And they won't let you go
by IluvfanficXD
Summary: The underground is free and ready to go to the surface, but where's Chara? Turns out she's lying in a bed of flowers yet again. Goat Screams, tears, chocolate, sibling banter and suspicious blue eyed gazes ensue. (Rated T just to be safe)
1. Prologue!

**And so they start looking.**

 **(Chapters will be longer after this I promise)**

* * *

It was done. Frisk had freed the monsters at last, all of them rejoicing at the fresher air, the blinding sun, and the newfound hope that had pierced the dark and grim underground. She had done so with the help of their friends, as well as the first child who had accompanied her through their journey.

The Mountain, which was originally cave walls and dark rooms, had gotten brighter somehow. The air, that once smelled grim and musty was suddenly fresh and slightly cool. It was Autumn. The trees had just started to regain those differed hues and wild pumpkins were growing slowly but surely in the thick forest. Grasses changed from their dark greens to a brighter lime. But despite this all, the monsters were packing everything as soon as possible. Even the more remote parts of the underground were promptly filled with excited chatter, noises and shouts.

The Capitol was brimming with joy, monsters that Frisk had never seen had been coming out of the woodwork. Salesmonsters were packing their stands, and children rushed out of the schools. Monster kid had dashed from the school as well, backpack strapped to his person.

"Yo! YO! Did you hear? The barrier broke yo!" He bounded over to Frisk, almost tripping but catching his pace once more.

Frisk was just as happy. "Yeah! I can't wait to go back home soon!"

"Same yo! Oh wait! Frisk, I'll talk to you later, I need to go tell my parents!"

"Okay. See you then, MK. " He was already dashing off before she could tell him.

Even in Waterfall, the somber notes of resignation that seemed to echo through the winding halls were suddenly changing, now instead of wishes spoken to the echo flowers, it was plans for the surface.

There was so much to see before the Underground was to be left for good, but something deeply troubled Frisk. She hadn't noticed it before, since everything was so hectic; what with monsters moving out and everything gaining a new life.. But where was Chara? She hadn't seen (or heard) her ghostly friend since she broke the barrier. Did... Did she disappear?

Running back from the barrier, She looked everywhere she could. Maybe Chara was in another room? Though she was fused to Frisk's soul, she would often wander only to phase back next to her short companion.

Waterfall was filled with travelling monsters, and one caught Frisk's eye. It was Mettaton, talking excitedly with Napstablook. They both held suitcases and seemed to be finally catching up. Frisk couldn't imagine staying too long without her friends.. It must have been difficult to live without Napstablook.

Passing Gerson's shop, she bought some Sea tea. It was strange, but Frisk had somehow grown a liking to them. The salty drinks put a pep in her step and were very useful when fighting Asgore.

A small whisper in the back of her mind said just how useful it was to defeat other monsters as well.

The tea tasted more bitter than usual. Frisk put it back in her pocket and began searching through Snowdin, calling for Chara through the small bond they both had. All that came back was the faint echo of her own thoughts. The air felt colder than usual and Frisk felt very alone for the first time since she had fallen underground.

She checked Papyrus' house. Boxes were comically stacked to the ceilings, all labled "My FANTABULOUS ATTACKS!" and one in an iconic font called "Punny Props" She sighed for a moment; the brothers will never change, huh?

Frisk was slowly becoming aware of how hard it was to not think about golden halls. She walked back down the stairs and into the Cinnabunny vendor's shop. She was packing some treats and Bicicles and summoning tiny bunnies to help out. Frisk was about to leave before the purple vendor stopped her.

"Huh? Oops I didn't see you there! Come over here for a second bunnaboo." Frisk walked over to the counter and the bunny (With a nametag that said Sarah.. How odd. Frisk never noted that before.) gave her some bicicles and Cinnabunnies. Frisk was about to give them back but Sarah refused. "Its the least I can do, hon. You freed us all! Sales are better than ever as well. Now, I need to go do some more errands for my move, but please enjoy yourself here!"

Frisk was about to give them back, but decided against it. Bicicles were as tasty as they were resourceful, plus breaking them in half with chara is always fun.

Now, Where was Chara? She had to be somewhere… right? Frisk said hello to the ice wolf, who was sipping some lemonade next to a sign that said "Out of business!". It was nice to see the Ice wolf taking a break for once. He works day and night with barely any stops.

Chara wasn't in Snowdin at all, nor was she in Hotland.. So that meant she was in the Ruins.

Frisk looked at the huge door, opening it with a resounding creak. She walked through, feeling Chara's presence at least a bit more since she walked through. Familiar purple halls and the scent of baked goods emanated from the place as Frisk walked on, and all the while she saw the Froggits, Whimsuns and Loox finally getting to see their family again.

The Loox, Froggits and whimsuns trapped outside the Ruins had grown past their weaknesses, turning into Astigmatism, Final Froggit and Whimsalot. Despite this, family reunions were always heartwarming!

Even the spiders were enjoying themselves; the place where their bakery was turned into a meeting spot for every single spider clan to reunite once more. Muffet never looked so happy before.

Frisk looked in Toriel's home, surprised to hear two murmured voices from Asgore and Toriel.

….  
Its best to let them talk.

Frisk could feel Chara a bit closer now. She walked past the deactivated traps and puzzles, and opened the last door. This door was the first one Frisk opened when they fell. It was the one that led to the flowerpatch. Asriel had gone off by the time Frisk had come back with Toriel.. Well, Flowey had, at least.

This was the only room Frisk hadn't checked.

She opened this door, and walked down the short hall to find a pale, sickly-looking child garbed in green and yellow, sleeping in the buttercups.

Things just got more complicated.

* * *

 **I had this idea for a week and nothing could make the thoughts stop, so hey, why not make it?**  
 **This story has nothing to do with Determined curse (my other story)**

 **...**

 **or does it?**

 **Chara and Frisk are female because I want them both to be more relatable so I can write them easier.**


	2. First they hide

Frisk couldn't believe it. In all of the runs she had taken, nothing like this had ever happened before.

Something new happened after a good 10 reruns. What the heck happened to her save file? Thoughts were running a mile a minute for the 12 year old; she was so overwhelmed that in her panic she didn't notice the still figure now waking up and rubbing two tired eyes.

What could have happened? Was it the genocide run? Frisk knew something was gonna happen after killing Flowey..

But what about Sans? He always loathed the mere idea of Chara, but now she is here, alive and **_stabbable_** ** _._** But it can't be _that_ bad right? Sure, _her eyes will forever be tinged a bit red but_ she fixed everything!

Frisk twitched. She grabbed her hands and held them down. Her heart beating faster and pumping out adrenaline because _crap everyone is going to find out and how are they going to react because of C_ _hara_ _T_ _oriel_ _will feel horrible now and A_ _sgore_ _too what about Fl_ _owey_ _oh crap F_ _lowey_ _is already here-_

"Frisk?"

Every single thought disappeared, leaving a lingering fear in Frisk's system. As if for the first time since she got there, she saw Chara, her best friend. Not a 'What if', nor a 'What will happen'.

Chara looked worse for wear. There was dug up dirt surrounding her as well as soil in her hair, dirt smudged on her face and dirt on her iconic sweater. She had skinny limbs and a pale complexion, only leaving a rosy touch on her cheeks and nose. Her nails were cracked and stuffed with dirt, as if she had clawed her way out of the grave.

Tears gathered in Frisk's eyes, blurring her vision.

"Frisk? Are you okay? What.. Why am I here?"

Frisk walked over to the unkempt child with matted hair slowly, blinking as if to see if her friend was really there.

"What's wrong?" Chara's face looked worried and exhausted at the same time, but Frisk didn't care. By the time Frisk had gotten to Chara, she plopped next to her and hugged her friend.

"Wha- How can you hug me? I don't understand.."

Chara was answered with a sobbing child. So she hugged Frisk back. She wasn't going to say it then.. But.. She needed a hug too. Tears hit the back of Frisk's flannel sweater. After all, they were both going to need a hug from here on out.

* * *

Frisk had gone and smuggled some tissues from Toriel's home, where there were quite a few boxes laying from Toriel and Asgore's "talk". By the time Chara knew it, she saw Frisk coming back yet again with a box of tissues, water, pie and a small box of cookies.

The two children didn't put to mind just how large the box was, nor the fact that it said 'Queenex (TM!)' Because if they knew anything about the strange goat duo, it would be the fact that the notorious parents are anything but petite.

Grabbing one of the larger-than-average hankies and drying her eyes, Chara and Frisk started planning what they were going to do to get out of here relatively unscathed.

"Sans is not going to be happy when he sees me..." Chara chuckled, albeit dryly. She coughed a bit until Frisk gave her some water.

"Thank you." Chara took a sip, cleared her throat and proceeded. "What I think we should do is clean up a bit first. I feel grimy and that was not pleasant to 'wake up' to."

"But Chara, how did you even get back to life? Your body isn't... rotting.. Either.." Frisk drank a gulp of water, and nibbled on some sugar cookies while listening to Chara.

"I don't know.. I just woke up under the dirt and clawed myself out.. But I do remember something!" Frisk looked back at Chara, who was eating some pie very carefully with a napkin covering her hand, as if she was going to 'soil' the plate. Gosh Sans ruined Frisk. Puns are literally everywhere for her now.

"I remember some barking, and something glowing red. That's really all. Then I was so tired that I just plopped on the garden like a sack of potatoes."

"Don't you mean like Sans?" Frisk giggled, but was meant with a red-eyed deadpan.

"Too soon, Frisk. Too soon." Chara took a bigger bite of the pie, chewing thoughtfully with a soured expression. Frisk decided to avoid that topic for now.

"Sorry. So I was thinking, after we eat and everything, I say we go to Toriel's home and wash up. Fighting Asriel really puts a nick in your side. Literally." Said Frisk with a deadpan of her own.

"Yeah. Who knew that he was actually going to be the "God of Hyperdeath"... He would talk about that everyday, you know..." Chara sighed and finished her pie with a grim expression, wiping stray tears away with another tissue.

"We're taking him with us."

Chara looked at Frisk with a look of slight disbelief. "Huh? How? Azzy is **dead** , Frisk. He isn't coming back."

"But that's where you're wrong, Chara. We can bring him up with us and try to change him, little by little!" Said Frisk, with a determined expression.

"That won't wor-"

"It worked with you." Said Frisk, now eating her slice of pie.

"...Touche." Chara huffed and ate the last two cookies.

"So, I guess the first thing on the agenda is that both of us take a shower. We both stink and it's a miracle that Woshua didn't dust himself at the sight of us." Frisk sat straighter, as if she had just thought of something.

"What is it Frisky?"

"I got an idea! We can just go over to a Woshua and have them use their cleaning magic on us!"

"True! They can also fix my clothes and stuff. Good idea Frisk!"

Frisk grinned. Things were finally getting better!

* * *

The two had placed their things in Frisk's Dimensional box, and had set off!

...

Oh.

Chara needed help walking; Her legs were still getting used to, well, being _used_. Frisk looked in her dimensional box for something—anything that could help, but even her trusty stick could never compare to being a worthy cane. Frisk also tried looking in Toriel's home, but she and Asgore had already come back to their home, talking about.. Cooking? Hm.

Chara looked slightly downtrodden yet again. "How are we going to go then? I need something to lean on."

Where could she find a stick that was really big, but could also be used and carried like a cane?

..Bingo.

"Wait right here Chara. I'm gonna find you a cane!"

"But how-" Frisk was already dashing off.

Frisk weaved through the Ruins almost seamlessly, her memory never failing even once as she avoided all the spots that could have curious monsters. She ran through the grand door to Snowdin, stopping at the forest.

There had to be some sticks that could be used for Chara.. Keeping Chara's height in mind, Frisk looked around for fallen branches.

"Sup Fartmaster. What'cha lookin' for?"

Dammit. This was the worst time to come across Sans. Frisk cared about the goofy guy like an uncle, but he could read her like a book and if he found out about Chara, they're both in for a long talk.

"Heya Sans. What's up?" Frisk turned to see him with the most nonchalant attitude she could muster.

He stared at Frisk for a second before smiling a bit wider and talking. "Nothin' much. Paps is being real supportive of me bringin' my sock collection an' all to the surface. Not to mention my 'Dog stand is getting more business than ever. What about you, kid? Whatcha' lookin' in the forest for?"

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap-

"Just looking for some sticks." Frisk's smile stiffened juuust a bit. Sans looked a bit.. Suspicious?

"What would'ja need a stick for pal?"

"I'm planning on roasting marshmallows in some nice spot in Snowdin. You ruined the surprise though Sans. Don't tell a soul!" Frisk tried to look as bummed as she could without looking rude. He seemed to take the bait, but Sans is Sans. He can just make it _look_ like he believed her and be thinking about it for a good week after.

"Oh. That's a shame. I didn't mean to ruin your surprise, kid. I'll go and 'mallow' In my thoughts then. 'Marsh' you be such a 'stickler'?"

Frisk chuckled a bit at his jokes, rebutting them with "Well, 'communication is important' you know."

Sans brightened a bit at this. "Eyyyyy pal"

Frisk gave him the double finger gun. "Ayyyyyyy"

They both walked away with a finger gun.

By the time Frisk looked back where Sans was, he had gone away. Probably went to Papyrus.

Frisk looked around and found a nice, yet sturdy stick near a few bushes. All she needs to do is strip off the top layer of bark, and it will be perfect for use. Smiling to herself, she snuck back to the Ruins and brought it to Chara.

* * *

"This is actually really cool, Frisky!" Chara was testing out the newly cleaned branch. It had a really good shape, was a good height for Chara, and had a good diameter of 2 ½ inches.

"Thank you, Thank you" Frisk bowed exaggeratedly.

"Silly."

"Angsty."

"Goofy"

"No im not"

"Yes you are!"

"No"

"Yeah"

"Nope"

"Yep"

"Dog"

"Cat"

"Tom"

"Jerry"

"Okay lets stop we can do this forever. "

"Agreed."

So now that all of that is out of the way, Frisk and Chara set off for Waterfall!-

Oh.

Not again!

Chara grabbed Frisk's sleeve just as they were going to exit the Ruins.

"We need to make sure that we don't find anyone in the way. Did you see Sans when you were looking for the stick?"

"Yeah.. But he left!"

"hm... We still need to make sure he is nowhere near the usual route through Snowdin.. I got it!"

"Yeah Chara?"

"Lets call Papyrus and see where all of them are. Sans and Undyne are staying with him, right?"

Frisk brightened at the idea "Yeah, they are! I'll call them now!"

Frisk grabbed her phone and pressed Papyrus' name on the contacts. Two rings echoed in the small room.

"Why hello small human Frisk! How are you today?" Papyrus was being surprisingly.. hushed.

"Hey Papyrus! How are you?"

"I'm just packing here with Undyne. She finished her packing a while ago, you know, since her home burned down and all, so now she has everything in her phone!"

"NGAH! IS IT THE PUNK? LIMME TALK TO HER!"

"Ah! Undyne! Keep it down! Sans is still sleeping!"

"Oh. Okay then Paps. But still, let me talk to the Punk!"

Chara whispered next to Frisk. "You can hear the phone being switched to Undyne."

Frisk looked at her to find her snickering goofily.

"Heya Punk! How're ya doing?"

"I'm good Undyne, you?"

"Everything's going great back here! Alphys is planning a sleepover later and I wanted to invite you! So, what do you say, punk?"

"I'll have to ask Toriel first, but if she says yeah, then sure!"

"Gotcha! Always respect your parents, punk! NGAH!"

*Click*

"How are we going to her sleepover Frisk? I can't go, remember?"

"I'll find a way, Chara. Don't worry."

"If you say so, Frisk."

"Now, Lets go. Papyrus is in his house with Undyne and Sans is Sleeping."

"Gotcha."

The two snuck out of the Ruins as fast as they could, which was saying something for Chara. Frisk distracted any monsters and Chara walked around the buildings to avoid any monsters. There was a story of Chara literally everywhere and it was best not to let monsters start talking about the first child suddenly walking among them.

The two finally got to the Riverperson, who had gazed at the two with a strange demeanor. The Riverperson finally asked the child duo where they wanted to go, and so they went on to Waterfall.

Chara leaned on one side of the boat, grasping her cane slightly while watching the water flowing by the boat.

"...I sense something strange... Perhaps it is a new time..." Said the Riverperson. He said nothing more after that, but that didn't stop Frisk and Chara from freezing in place.  
They both stared at the Riverperson, as if looking for the clue that would say "I know about resets".. But nothing more was noted from the cryptic Riverperson. He led the boat through the halls of waterfall and finally took them to the familiar blue-stoned floors.

As Frisk and Chara were getting off the boat, the Riverperson handed a small pouch to Chara. It was only now that they both noticed how strange it's hand looked. Almost like a mummy's hand, yet it was a slightly lighter color.

"What's this?" Said she.

"Just a little something to remember me by. Eat one every time it hurts." He said no more and sailed off.

"That was weird. Nothing even hurts right now."

"I guess? The Riverpeople are never really straightforward. You might want to keep it with you though, Chara. Despite their confusing talk, they usually mean something with what they say."

"I'll keep it then. Lets go now Frisk. I remember there was a Woshua near a deck of sorts."

"Oh yeah! That means we will need to backtrack a bit, if you don't mind."

"Nah.. I'm good. Let's go."

The two walked through the glowing path of echo flowers. Little wisps of glowing light floated around them, as well as the surrounding water.

Frisk looked at the familiar flowers, but said nothing as they both walked on. It was a few more rooms until the deck, so might as well enjoy the silence for a while. Woshua is a very helpful monster, really. Their magic cleans any and every speck of dirt, grime, and.. dust..

..

 _So anyway,_ they'll be a big help; maybe even fixing up their clothes.

Frisk and Chara had walked through waterfall almost wordlessly, noting a few things and talking about others. Other times Chara would narrate what she saw, a tough habit that she had formed through their various runs.

They both didn't notice when they had gotten to the deck, but it was nice to see Woshua standing idly near the water. Frisk approached them meekly while Chara stayed a good 2 feet away.

"Hey Woshua.. Do you think you could help us out?" Woshua turned to look at the both of them before their rubber ducky screamed. Maybe it was Frisk and Chara's soiled attire, maybe it was the fact that neither of them had brushed their hair in god knows how long. Whatever it was, it was horrifying for poor Woshua.

The poor thing had used all the soapy magic they had on Frisk and Chara, and even then there was still some grime in their clothes. It was then that Woshua had finally called for the **heavy artillery.** A group of Woshua's worked on using their magic on their clothes, while some more groups focused on scrubbing their hair.

Aaron and Shyren had joined in, Shyren combing Frisk and Chara's hair while Aaron cleaned Chara's nails. Napstablook had come along somewhere in the mix, bringing a sign that said "The fullbody Salon!"

Made sense, they supposed.

By the time the group finished, the two fallen children were practically glowing in both happiness and slight awe. Aaron brought a mirror and showed it to the two.

"I feel swanky! What about you Frisky?" Chara was gleaming, looking at Frisk with a slight amazement. She stretched a bit and felt her hair, running her fingers through it a few times, as if relishing the feel of it.

"I feel like Mettaton!" Said Frisk, smelling her newly cleaned shirt.

Aaron's voice cut in. "I'm glad you like it darling! Me and Shyren are happy to help!" He flexed in a confident pose.

Shyren blushed at both of their approval. "T-Thank you both.. I'm glad that we could help out, however we can!" Her voice squeaked melodically.

Napstablook had blushed to the point that he was barely visible. "...thanks.. you two..."

The group of Woshua's had already left, including the one on the deck. However, Frisk paid a good 100G to each monster that helped beforehand. Their work was to be compensated!

Frisk and Chara had left the deck, retreating to the room where the tutu was found. Chara plopped on the grass patch with her cane by her side, while Frisk sat on a crystal imbedded on the floor.

"Now what's the plan of action? We already got all cleaned, I got something to walk with for the time being, our HP is all up, we ate and drank- heck, we even cried our tears dry. What now, Frisk?"

"...To be honest... I don't know either." Admitted Frisk with a sheepish grin.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chara sat up a bit straighter.

"I may have, uh... Kindasortathoughtwewerenevergoingtogetthisfar-" Frisk muttered the words quickly, but Chara still heard her.

"That's kinda messed up, Frisk. What were we supposed to do if Sans caught us back there?"

Frisk slumped slightly with a pout. "I don't know, b-but... We made it, didn't we?" She looked at Chara with puppy eyes.

Chara sighed, slumping in her own 'seat'. "Yeah, I guess so. We have to plan better next time though. And quit the face, Frisk. You ain't foolin' anyone."

"Fine." Said Frisk, now deadpanning. The previous expression that she was wearing with such Moe-intensity had disappeared, now non-existent.

"Where can we go, anyway? We can't just go to Toriel yet, Sans and Papyrus are no option, and Asgore will probably break down upon seeing me.." Chara's voice ended in a hushed manner, her eyes looked... distant.

"Plus the surface isn't an option either.. Humans don't know about monsters and I don't want to be ambassador this time.."

"Huh? How come?" Chara had a curious edge to her voice. Silly.

Frisk looked at her and smiled slightly. "I hated all of that publicity.. In one timeline I was stressed every single day. Too much work, papers, people who just want you to go _down_."

Chara put a hand on Frisk's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Frisk.. I wasn't able to help you out then.. "

Frisk sniffed slightly and gazed at Chara. "Can I have a hug?" Chara stiffened slightly, but her expression softened.

".."

"Sure."

They didn't know how long they just sat there, staring at the luminescent crystals on the ceiling, but this was their way of keeping the bad thoughts from getting back into their heads.

They would keep these worries away for as long as they had to.


	3. Then they plan

_**This is the actual A/N XD**_

 _ **TW: Genocide, Cursing, and all that nice angst.**_

* * *

 _ **LOVE is your capacity to hurt. It doesn't leave with a reset.**_

 **Skip this if you are sensitive to dark themes!**

 _...This is pretty important to the story though, so uh.. I don't know... :(_

* * *

We never wanted any of this. We never wanted to get **hurt**. We never wanted to get **killed in every way imaginable.**

 **"** Monsters are kind beings" my now corporeal ass. Did we ever ask to be thrown into this world? Did we ever want to have to fight beings that were used to using magic and thus had a clear advantage? Did we ever want to be killed before we could even get to 20 years old? Did we ever want to be forced to learn how to dodge to save our lives?

No. We didn't. We never did, but we had to do it anyway because these 'kind monsters' wanted to save their own hides and murder **children.** I was still part of frisk. I laughed with her, cried with her, saw everything and _knew_ everything about her, and vice versa. I felt her pain, she felt my emotions. It was weird but a second nature at some point.

At first, I never knew how I popped out of the ground. That's when I noticed that it was because it wasn't me. It was Frisk. She was a naive and kind of quirky little brat; Flirted with my mom, ate some good food and had some bad laughs with Toriel, it was nice, for the first part.

I never knew how fond I was of her until I saw her **die.** She was there, trying to talk sense into Toriel. Telling her about her family, her Aunt and older brothers. Crying and saying all of it on her turn. She was lying. I knew. Her aunts and brothers were the ones in her orphanage. I never saw Mom so stoic. She brushed off Frisk's heartfelt speech and proceeded to attack on her first turn.

 _"FRISK! Dodge! Move! Do something!"_ Frisk was stuck in the middle like a deer in headlights, watching the fireball close the distance and hit her. It charred her shirt, burnt her skin and left her staring at Toriel with shock. Toriel did nothing, looking into the distance and not even meeting Frisk's eyes.

I knew why she didn't dodge. She was in shock. She never expected someone who she trusted to do so in such a short time. Everything stung.

Frisk slowly got up, trying not to agitate her burns further and pressed the talk button yet again. This time, it wasn't explanation. It was _begging. Pleading_ for Toriel to just stop and listen. So Frisk could get back to her 'family'.

Kind faces and warm eyes flooded Frisk's memory. She... She loved these people aboveground.

Toriel said nothing once more, and pretended not to hear anything while sending more and more rivulets of fire magic directly at Frisk. Think about this, she never held back. She uses that fire magic to bake pies. It can be hotter than an oven and she was directing it at a newly turned 12 year old. Frisk could only force herself to move at the last minute, another fireball burning her side and leaving her stumbling blindly into the rest of the flames.

And I couldn't do **anything but watch.** I didn't know how to control Frisk's body. I didn't know how to dodge either because I never learned. Sneering faces and disappointed eyes filled my memory until my own consciousness whited out from the pain of the burns and I couldn't see Frisk anymore. All I saw was black and red charred flesh and a barely distinguishable purple and blue striped tunic.

Frisk was fading away, and I was flickering out like a light as well. Not even the pain could be registered anymore, only white noise. Third degree burns were laced all over Frisk's body, and the last thing that could be seen was Toriel's horrified expression. So **_now_** she feels bad?! What about Frisk, when she was begging for her life?

And that's when I started getting angry. At monsters and their hypocrisy, at humans for their cruelty, and at myself. For what we would soon do after.

Frisk reset, and spent a long time just crying in her room. She grabbed her arms and let go of them with a hiss of phantom pains, seeing perfectly untouched skin. Not one burn, not one scratch, nothing. She didn't want to see Toriel again, so she left when Toriel slept.

I was glad that she was okay, that Frisk could get out.. But something was nagging at my heart. Toriel just got away with child murder without a scratch and hadn't even gotten her well-deserved retribution. What I meant by 'retribution'? I didn't know at the time myself. I pushed it down and enjoyed the snow with Frisk for now. Singing songs and hearing Frisk sing Christmas carols to herself even though it was only April in the surface.

Sans came soon after that, Frisk just played along with his little 'skit'. I disliked him. His gaze hid something... threatening. Feeling out of control like that, if only for a little.. It scared me. Frisk was slightly scared too, but upon hearing his puns with Papyrus, let her guard down immediately.

Frisk just made do with whatever she could find. If she saw something interesting, she talked about it with me and I would try to keep everything interesting for her too. The underground is pretty amazing, but it's best to keep the youths curious.

...Why am I monologuing like an old person? Eh.

Soon, Frisk found out how to spare the monsters in Snowdin very effectively. She made friends, even carried one of the snowman pieces for the little guy. Before she left she sung "Frosty the snowman" for him, leaving out the part where Frosty melts. He doesn't need to know that.

Frisk went to Snowdin, talked to the locals, ate some NiceCream, Bicicles, cinnabunnies, and whatever else she could wanted because she had been "walking all day and monster food is not as filling as it looks."

Frisk then left Snowdin and fought Papyrus soon after. Sans told her about blue stop signs so it was okay, right?

No.

Frisk was impaled. She got stabbed, grazed and sliced in one fight, concussed by a wall of bones that spelled out "Cool" in another fight, and every single **FUCKING TIME,** Papyrus took her to a cold shed, only giving dog kibble in a bowl for 'hospitalities'. Where were the other monsters? They were minding their business. They didn't **care** about a kid that could die fighting Papyrus. Eventually, she beat him after a good 2 tries.

Frisk told him they could be friends. I felt outraged. Friends? FRIENDS? Is that what it takes now? Fighting a kid to the death and then making them be your friend? I couldn't help but laugh and keep laughing. It was so fucked up! These were the people I died to protect? These were the 'kind' monsters that were the 'victims' of a war?

She didn't have a date with Papyrus, explaining to the tall guy that it is illegal to do so. I wanted to add how illegal it was for monsters to kill children down here, but she didn't let me. I started disliking being out of control. Being unable to protect her. Why didn't she want me to protect her? I was going to make sure they never hurt her again so... why?

She never answered. She played board games with Papyrus instead, and I got to make some choices in Game of Underground. Kinda like Game of Life, but it is all modeled after the Underground. Everything except the ruins, I noted.  
That same nagging, heavy burning feeling in my chest came back, more violently. I finally recognized what I was feeling. **_Indignation._** Treating a kid like an object, killing them tons of times, throwing them in a cold shed like a dog, trying to steal the culmination of a child's being and succeeding 6 times, and asking them to be their friends soon after.

I stopped making note of a lot of things afterwards. I was getting too disappointed to do so.

Waterfall was no different. Undyne was a pain in the ass to handle, much less fight. Frisk talked to sans, he pranked her with a painted telescope. The paint gave them a slight rash. Frisk said nothing. Napsta was nice. His home was cool and the tunes he had could resonate with my very existence. Just kidding. I did like the christmas spooktunes he had though.

Frisk spared Undyne, and thankfully Frisk was getting better at dodging. She only got stabbed twice! I sighed at how this could be considered 'good news'. Frisk looked to see Sans in his station. What..? Why didn't he stop Undyne?

I don't remember much else, except the restaurant meet with Sans. He was watching everything. I thought that he was our friend. I thought that he cared. But no. He was watching everything and threatened us. Saying we would be killed if that promise wasn't made.

" _haven't_ _i_ _done a great job protecting you?_ _i_ _mean, look at yourself. you haven't died a single time. hey, what's that look supposed to mean? am_ _i_ _wrong...?_ "

Frisk slumped back in her seat, and something cracked. I came out. I was in control. And I could only laugh. There are no 'friends' here. There's only bigoted monsters who need a taste of their own medicine.

Frisk fought me back down and ran out, only stopping a moment to see sans' confused expression. I was still laughing in the depths of her mind.

Judgement hall was the worst. Sans spoke like a little holier than thou dipshit, saying the lines that he would soon say 5 resets later. Asgore was killed, Flowey was spared and just like that, she ended the neutral run. I disappeared. I couldn't exit the underground with Frisk, and I faded away.

The same happened 6 times. Frisk got to the surface for once, but died from stress, and I was just so tired. Tired of seeing everyone I used to care about just ruining my impression of them. I thought that out of all of them, at least someone wouldn't want to fight. Nothing happened that could meet that expectation.

I guess she still wanted a good ending..?

Everything snapped when Sans said something different. He harassed Frisk. He told them to stop loading and give up. Frisk cried.

I took control again. And I reset in front of him. I didn't give a shit anymore. I was done. That violent feeling flooded my veins and I started to cut down the underground. For all the times they wronged us. For all the times they killed us. For all the times they blamed us for what was wrong in the world. All of them were scum and I was going to clean it. All of them were disgusting beings. Hurting us and making us feel pity for what they've done in the first place.

So I was going to be the real angel of the underground. The angel of death. I left no ground unturned. I was the real savior. I was the one justice for all of the kids who fell down and were hurt. For all of the innocent children who had to go through this hell of monsters with backwards mentalities.

It hurt at first. It hurt and it felt good to see how Toriel felt, being hurt by the one person she started caring about. Frisk didn't say anything, but I could feel her there. Sans was there, now more menacing. I smiled as I shook his hand. Dust coated his hand and he pulled it out of my grasp as soon as he touched it. He looked at me with a dark grin. I kept smiling.

Smiling helps the hurt in your heart. It makes your brain trick you into feeling happy. So why did I feel so wrong? That guilt faded away with my LOVE growing higher. Smiling was nice. I smiled as I killed papyrus. I knew he was watching somewhere. Sans likes watching us get killed, huh? This will be a nice treat for him. I smiled as I watched monster kid fall into the abyss, that traitor. Soon I saw Undyne jump down like the 'hero' she was.

I smiled as I saw her melt. This is justice.

I broke Mettaton with the knife I held. I stabbed through delicate wiring and machinery. Now he won't hurt us. I killed more monsters before I could know their names. It was like slicing through butter. I couldn't remember what color Frisk's shirt was with the dust caking it. Dust doesn't just blow away. It sticks and adheres permanently to anything. Waterproof and all.

Like a trophy for their **families.**

And then I saw Sans in the halls. He had tear streaks on his skull and he said some bullcrap speech. Soon laser dragons and bone attacks flurried out with the flick of a hand. I didn't care anymore. I died tens of hundreds of times and I kept on. I was the person who would bring justice to this twisted world. Why didn't people understand that?

I woke up again next to a star. Sans would teleport here as soon as I stepped on that fateful tile. I looked at my.. No.. Frisk's hands. Caked in dust. Micro cuts and scrapes I couldn't feel on Frisk's body. Dust in Frisk's hair. Frisk couldn't breathe because there was dust blocking Frisk's nose and the Dust was everywhere and I just wanted to hug Toriel but she died and everyone died and it is all my fault and...

And I could only laugh about it. I smiled, trying to feel better. Why wasn't it working? There was dust in my mouth. The air smelled foul. There were bloodstains that littered the halls but it was really just my mind and everything coming back to spite me again. I saw Toriel just a few tiles away, but she turned at looked at me with a sliced face and chest and then everyone else who I killed was there. Papyrus glared at me, Undyne cursed at me, Mettaton was seething, Napstablook was disappointed and then I looked back and I saw Frisk.

...

 **And Frisk was smiling too.**

Because of **me.**

And I could only laugh. Tears streamed down dust covered cheeks and I laughed. I couldn't breathe and I laughed, choking on dust and blood... blood?

Haha.. He stabbed me..! He stabbed me! I wrenched my head around to look at him. I couldn't stop laughing. The high from LOVE had faded away and I could feel everything and he was sweating nervously and readying a blaster and I was just laughing! It was the worlds worst joke and I could only laugh some more as I felt so empty because of everything. I laughed as he blasted me to bloody shreds.

I killed him. I don't know how I did it, or why I did it. It was hard to remember.. What did I do again? Flowey and Asgore were no different. It was like something else stabbed it for me. And then I was truly alone.

I sat down on the couches in new home. It got covered in dust immediately. I thought about what I did in this run. I couldn't feel anything. An empty numbness in my heart suffocated the underground. What was once soft songs of hope was now a dead silence. An endless white noise. Everything was blurry.

We're in a living nightmare and we can't wake up.

And we both RESET.

* * *

 **(A/N: It's over, my pretties! don't worry!)**

I woke up with a jolt to see Frisk sleeping on my shoulder. She was snoring softly and grabbing my newly washed cardigan in a surprisingly tight fist. She reminded me of Asriel in so many ways. Mostly because she is a slight crybaby herself. With an amused huff I leaned back onto the tall grass. Surprisingly enough, it could hold both of our weight.

I sighed and looked up at the crystals on the ceiling. They shone with a bright glimmer that pulsed to life and faded in a hazy succession. The water trickled down the cave walls haphazardly, making the rough cave walls look shiny and slightly unreal. Glowing mushrooms littered the floors with a strange, yet mystifying glow to them.

Frisk is weird. She can act so well. It's so saccharine sweet that it almost makes you forget what we did last run. Sans is acting the same with Frisk, except he is more... clingy to Papyrus. I guess that's our fault. Sans would always call us 'the other one'. Didn't he know that what we did was a co-op thing? Eh...

Even now, thinking about that makes me feel like I really shouldn't be here. I should be dead. I should have been back seven feet under. A matching set with the real Asriel. But here I am, the first dead kid patting the seventh child on the head like a fuckin' mom.

I could leave now. I could leave, find the Ruins by myself and eat more buttercups until I REALLY do the job right. There's so many _ways_ too. Drowning? I can swim. Doy. Uh.. Go to that place where Alphys was planning to do it? No.. that's so pathetic.

In my morbid thoughts, Frisk stirred in her sleep with quite the nasty grimace. She clutched my sleeve tighter. I pulled out her soul, checking if her hp was down to find that mine came out too. We were still connected. I cursed as I put them back. It filled a small void to feel my soul back in place.

Siblings, couples, heck, even good friends got soul bonded after a lot of time... but never like this! What to do.. What to do..

That complicates everything. EVERYTHING. That means we have to get this checked out by a scientist but that means that we will have to go to Alphys' place which means that Undyne is going to be there because of her sleepover which means that Papyrus will most certainly come over which means...

 **Sans.** He will pop in at least once to check on Papyrus. Probably will say some bull excuse like "My Stand blah blah blah"

"Shit." was the only thing I could say. The room didn't feel as nice either.

* * *

Frisk woke from her sleep. She peeked up at a now panicking Chara who was clutching her cane with white knuckled hands.

"Chara. Stop worrying. I told you we'd be fine, no?" Frisk sat up straighter and looked at her friend, determined.

"Frisk. You knew about our souls the whole time, didn't you?" Chara looked at Frisk with an indescribable expression, but looked even paler than ever.

"Hehe... I might have? I always wondered why my soul looked a bit darker in battles." Said Frisk, a sheepish grin on her features."

"We're screwed, Frisk. We have to go to a doctor for this stuff! Alphys will freak out and Undyne too, they'll call mom or dad and then Sans will find out and he'll skewe-"

Frisk grabbed both of Chara's shoulders and shook them briefly. Chara looked up at Frisk with a watery expression. "Nobody is getting skewered Chara. Lets go to that sleepover, okay? I'll pretend that you are just someone who fell by accident. " Said Frisk, with an oddly determined expression for their predicament.

Chara blinked a few times before chuckling, albeit weakly. "That plan is so stupid it might work... Fine. Lets try it." Frisk brightened up at hearing this, and so the two marched out of the cave. Frisk tiptoed stealthily while Chara walked normally with her cane in hand.

"I'm glad you decided to try this out, Chara! After all, what do we have to lose?" Said Frisk as she tiptoed extra stealthily.

"Several Internal organs." Replied Chara bluntly. Frisk stopped to glare at her slightly and continued her calculated tiptoes.

"Since when were you such a downer, Chara?" Said Frisk, giving up her tiptoes and opting to hide behind the echo flowers. Chara scoffed and looked down at the shiny crystals in the floor.

"Since we died more times than we could count. It does a number on ya. And dammit I said a pun." Chara muttered as the two got back in the boat to head towards Hotland. The duo regarded the Riverperson in silence and Frisk told them the destination. The Riverperson said nothing about timelines, yet this time he said something strange once more.

"...Hurt feelings... are a crippling thing indeed... how frightening..."

Chara didn't say anything, nor did she pay it mind. Frisk was working out how she was going to explain Chara's existence to Alphys and Undyne without including anyone else into the matter. She would have to explain quickly though; they were already approaching Hotland. The boat, which was somehow carved into a dog was running across the water at rather thrilling speeds.

The dog stopped prancing on the water's surface, sinking its feet into the river and stopping at Hotland's drop-off point. Frisk thanked the Riverperson and he nodded, albeit slowly. Chara turned to see the stairs that would soon lead to.. The lab... She swallowed dryly, looking in her pockets to see if she had any water left.

She grabbed the familiar handle and voila! There it was; a small thermos half-filled with water. Chara sipped some of it as she walked with the cane in her other hand. Walking was getting a little easier, she supposed. One leg would always stall just a bit, while the other was popping with each step. She really needed to stretch sometime.

Frisk on the other hand, was looking both ways to see if any monsters could be found. Thankfully, only the NiceCream vendor was there. Frisk grabbed Chara's sleeve and before Chara could notice, she was dragged over to the front of his cart.

"Why hello little guys! I'm having some great sales! Each of you, take a NiceCream, on the house!" Said he with a smile.

"Take one, Chara" Whispered Frisk as she grabbed a vanilla cone nicecream. Chara peered into the frosty cart; a big change from the intense heat of Hotland. The bunny must have ice magic. Grabbing a "Strawberry Chocolate swirl" NiceCream cone, she and Frisk thanked the NiceCream Bun and left. Chara did a small nod as thanks, which Frisk found to be progress.

"You know, Frisk" Chara sat down at the steps to start eating her nicecream and Frisk did the same. "You could have just gotten me a NiceCream. You know which ones I like already, too." Chara bit into the Cool NiceCream, much to Frisk's Chagrin.

Frisk Undid the wrapper on her NiceCream and gave it a tentative nibble before shuddering and opting to lick it instead. "I don't know how you bite this Chara." Chara shrugged in response. "But I was testing something." Said Frisk.

"Hm? What'du u meen?" Mumbled Chara while chewing a strawberry. "To see if people really recognize you. The niceCream bunny didn't, plus he never even asked your name. We're good as long as we don't mention your name then, Chara!"

"Hm.. I guess I'll change my name to.. Uh.. "

Frisk looked contemplative for a moment.

"How about G̷̪͋h̷̜̳͙͍̯̦̪̬̦̱̙̜̏̄̇̏̌͠ͅͅo̶̡̨̨̠̰̹͕̫̯̩͙̖͋͌̀͛ś̶͖̟̯͆̄̽̌̄t̶̢͈̤̝̙̺̜͙̱̹̼͋̈͊̒͒ị̶̟̳̟̯̦̹̎̂͗͋̏e̸̤̝̥͎̼̣̹̋̍̄̾̄̏̎̀̑̚͝͠͝ ?"

Chara stumbled and looked at frisk in pure shock, while frisk met her gaze with a confused one of her own.

"W-What did you say, Frisk?.." Said Chara, with a slight cold in her veins now.

"I said, how about the name Rei? Are you okay, Chara?"

Chara took a deep breath and sighed. It must have been her imagination. "Yeah. I'm good. Lets go to the Lab, Frisky."

"So the name sounds good?"

"Yeah. Not too girly either. I like it." Said Chara.

The two walked up the stone stairs and opened the door to the lab. They both walked in and before either could say a word, Undyne jumped down from the ceiling!

"YO! I'm glad you made it, Punk...s?" Chara watched Undyne's face shift from excitement to confusion.

.

.

Is it too late to run?

* * *

 **If you are confused about what timeline shenanigans happened, here you go!**

 **1 first timeline, neutral.**

 **5 timelines where Asgore still died. Frisk is sorting out how to get true pacifist.**

 **1 timeline where True pacifist is achieved, but Frisk dies from ambassador stress.**

 **1 timeline where Sans threatens Frisk, Chara gets mad and resets.**

 **1 timeline where genocide happens and wah wah waaaahhhhh. Genocide is given up because Sans is a fricken troll. JK he dies here too. :3**


	4. And now a sleepover?

"YO! I'm glad you made it, Punk...s?" Undyne looked at one child, then the other. In her eyes, they looked like twins! Only one was taller but really weird looking and the other was the punk that Undyne knew.

Undyne's fins were slightly flared, a bright red sheen that could easily be seen from yards away. Chara couldn't help but remember the things that never happened in the current timeline. The graceful hero whose corpse melted away into grim memories and too much determination. The hero that would go to hell and back to fix what Frisk and Chara had done just one run ago.

And it hurt. Guilt suffocated Chara, a heavy feeling in her chest made her want to retch. She couldn't move, She couldn't breathe. She could only look at Undyne as her bitter regrets stabbed at her. She swallowed a thick lump in her throat as her panic grew, trying to find a way to evade this situation.

Yet no( _ **body)**_ solution came.

"Frisk, is your friend okay?" Undyne's surprised face shifted to one of confusion as the other human kept staring at her with a paler face than before.

Frisk looked over to see Chara practically frozen, waved a hand at her friend and upon finding no reaction, laughed it off. "It's okay, they fell down here when I was exploring the Underground again. They're still getting used to seeing monsters, haha..."

A sharp and not so subtle jab to the side snapped Chara out of her daze, even if it were only momentarily. With the last few remains of what used to be their link, Frisk urged Chara to play along.

"Uh.. Yeah! Haha..Ha...Heh..." Chara smiled in the _fakest_ way possible, but it was a smile nonetheless. It looked eerily similar to the genocide smile. Frisk tried not to shudder. Both of them looked to see Undyne deadpanning them with the slightest amount of.. Deja-vu...

But it was gone as soon as it came. Instead replaced with the most intense and terrifying expression known to man. It was a face that said "I'll break 50 times more boulders than yesterday, damnit!"

"Okay then.. Well! I HOPE YOU PUNKS ARE READY! Are you ready for the most KICKAS-"

"U-UNDYNE! NO SWEARING IN FRONT OF CHILDREN!" Yelled a familiar voice from inside of the break room. The lab smelled like instant ramen. Hopefully they had chicken miso. Frisk started wondering what Chara's preferred flavor would be. She then thought what all of her personal preferences would be. She glanced at Chara yet again, who was clutching her makeshift cane a bit tighter than usual. Her face showed determination to continue on with this plan, and Frisk was grateful for that.

"Sure babe, heh.. KICK-DONKEY sleepover ever?!" Undyne flashed her yellow sharkish teeth in a proud smile before extending her hand towards Chara. Chara tried not to flinch, and by some level of luck only twitched a bit.

"I don't think we've met before punk! But anyone who's my bestie's friend is automatically _my_ bestie! The name's Undyne."

Chara stared at Undyne's hand. It had webbed fins in the space between her fingers, and there were sharp nails at her fingertips. Despite this, Chara hesitantly grabbed the scaly hand.

However, she didn't expect Undyne to shake her hand so hard. Chara grew dizzy, and even then Undyne didn't relent her attack on Chara's brain cells. After what seemed to be forever, Undyne finally let her hand free, giving chara a moment to regain her balance. "So, now that we are officially besties by default, what's your name kid?"

By instinct, Chara responded. "My name is Cha-" "REI!" Interrupted Frisk.

"Huh? What'cha mean, Frisk? Isn't their name Cha-something?" Undyne was confused yet again.

"Their nickname is Rei. They lost their memories a while ago in the fall, so sometimes they mutter different names. I'm just waiting for her to remember her name."

"Potato dumpling is me. Blep" Chara said this while doing the weirdest expression known to man. More in the meme spectrum of weird than anything though.

"See?" Frisk pointed at Chara dramatically with a wide eyed expression.

Undyne stared at the two with a dumbfounded expression. "I can never understand humans. ALPHYS, ARE ANIME HUMANS A DIFFERENT SPECIES?"

"I-IT APPEARS S-SO, UNDYNE!" yelled Alphys from another room. Furious typing could be heard from the room.

"Damn." Undyne

An awkward, stifling pause broke between the three, but Undyne sliced the tension in half with her spear! Literally. She pulled her weapon out of the now cracked tile floors, looking at the two with unrestrained excitement. Undyne's hair was practically bristled with the charged air in the room while the two children inched a bit closer to each other in case a battle WERE to occur for some reason. This was all new, and it scared them both to bits. Sure, the surface always differed in outcomes, but the underground was always a set amount of events. The sudden change in this set amount of occurrences and speech patterns; it made everything feel alive, not like some sort of messed up videogame reality.

"Now that we have introductions out of the way, get into your PJ's! We're gonna get this sleepover done right! NGAAH!" With her notorious battle cry, she quickly ran up the escalator; despite it going the opposite way she ran up the steps in record time, dashing into the nearest bathroom.

And opening the door once more, to hang up a sign that read "Occupied. NGAHAHAR!". Smoke erupted from the bathroom, causing the two fallen children to shudder briefly. They decided to stop looking when the bathroom door was stabbed through with an array of glowing spears.

Chara took a deep breath of relief and looked over to see Frisk grinning dopily. "It worked, 'Rei'. " She winked at Chara before going over to greet Alphys. Chara followed along, but still swallowed dryly at the thought of having to interact without Frisk there to fix things. To fix _her_. To make her okay to be in society again without someone talking in her head.

Frisk smiled at Chara for a split second while they walked over to where Alphys was, and suddenly, everything felt okay. Maybe things would work out in the end, Chara supposed.

The door that led to the break room was locked for some reason, but the password was easy; Frisk simply typed "NyaNya" in the keypad and the doors opened soundlessly.

Alphys was in the next room in a frilly onesie. The onesie looked fluffy and had two small cat ears on the top, with a hole for her actual tail on the bottom. There was also a familiar wand leaning on her desk as she typed. For some reason, Alphys' face was distant, as if she was immersed in her prose. A blush evident behind Alphys' steamy glasses. Frisk and Chara looked at what the sheepish monster typed, curious as to what she wrote with such a strange expression. They crept behind her and quietly read on:

 _"Undyne pounced on the unsuspecting lizard, coming closer to her lips as she whispered with a hot, seductive growl, "You're mine." She said as she traced her lips softly across Alphys' belly until her scales quivered, going lower and lowe-"_

Chara promptly covered Frisk's eyes from the obvious smutfic that Alphys wrote. "Wha-" "YUP THAT ISN'T PG. SAVE YOUR VIRGIN EYES FRISK. SAVE THEM."Yelled Chara, unbeknownst to Frisk's dumbfounded expression "EEP!- W-WHEN WERE YOU GUYS HERE AAh-" Chara's hands were calloused and bony, and even though she was alive her body heat was still low. Frisk would have to fix that later. Meanwhile, Alphys stealthily hit Alt+tab and changed to a much more user-friendly desktop layout. A long pause was held as Chara looked away with a red cheeked face, and Alphys did the same, only she was sweating nervously and taking quick sips from her MewMew Meow Mug ™. Alphys tried to say something, but it all ended up in fragmented stuttering as her blush grew.

"Ahem. Well then.. As we were about to say, before.. uh.." Frisk looked away awkwardly while Alphys fidgeted some more in her desk chair.

"F-Frisk, how did you even know the password? And also, please don't get into the breakroom when the door is closed.. Oh god.." Alphys looked away, covering her face with the hood of her onesie.

Undyne dashed through the doors, landing on the tile with a huge thud. This was more than enough to startle everyone in the room. A familiar, energetic tune could be heard in the distance.

"YO! I'M BACK PUNKS! MISSED ME? OF COURSE YOU DID! LET'S GET THIS SLEEPOVER STARTE- Why haven't you two brats changed clothes?" Undyne leaned on the nearby door frame and crossed her arms expectantly, wanting an explanation. Her PJ's were blue with pink fish on them, just like the wallpaper at her house. Unfortunately, the cute pajamas were not enough to get rid of the intimidating atmosphere that Undyne had built around her.

"We literally have no clothes except what we have on, Undyne." Replied Chara, gesturing towards both her and Frisk's now pristine attire.

"Don't you guys do transformation sequences to change clothes? Like that Red Head from Fairy Tail?" Undyne was wide eyed, looking at Alphys for the facts while Frisk giggled quietly.

"U-uh.. no, Undyne. Only the Anime V-variant of humans can do tricks like that, hehe.. ha…" Alphys averted her eyes, but the pause was too long for comfort this time around.

"…I'll go check to see if I have any spare pajamas. Undyne, Frisk and.."

"Rei." The name felt weird to say for Chara, especially when saying it was her name felt.. odd. No matter how much she 'hated' that name, it was still _hers._ One of the only things she kept from a long forgotten time. Chara sighed, gripping her trusty stick; a strangely relaxing form of cope.

"G-Got it, R-rei. I'll be back in just a second, guys." Alphys quickly closed her.. fanfiction.. and walked over to a large button. It was about a foot higher than her, but she jumped up and _smacked_ the button like it was a bad vending machine. A bookshelf beside her opened with a slide and a click and from a very decorated room came Mettaton in his box form. In a puff of glittery smoke, of course.

" _ooOHHHHH YES_. Why hello my beauties! What do you all need my loves?" He promptly looked at Frisk and Chara and gasped in shock, before walking back in his room with so much as a "Say no more." Afterwards he emerged from his room once more with two pairs of pajamas.

He handed them over to Frisk and Chara and left back to his room with a barely restrained yawn. Well, at least they said thank you before he left to his room.

One pair was light blue with rubber ducks printed on a soft fabric, while another pair was purple with the delta rune printed on. As well as two pairs of moccasins of the same design.

"Hey Chara.. How does he know our sizes?" whispered Frisk in a somewhat alarmed tone.

"There's a lot of things I don't know about MTT. This is one of them." Chara whispered back.

Undyne was still waiting for them to change, her eye twitching in barely restrained impatience as she radiated a fierce impression yet again. Frisk took this as a sign and grabbed Chara's hand to get them both to the nearest bedroom.

* * *

"Hey! Stop pulling me Frisk!" Frisk was always too eccentric for my own tastes, but as soon as I looked at Undyne from the escalator, I quickly shut up. Undyne was about to form a barrage of spears and I wasn't ready to see her make them.

Soon we were in Alphys' room. Frisk looked around, but it wasn't as grand as we thought. A massive computer lay hanging on one wall with a desk and chair next to it, her bed was a queen size that lay in one corner, and in another corner was a bookshelf, but it was stacked with instant ramen.

I didn't tell Frisk, but I grabbed one of the packets. It had beef, dammit.

Soon Frisk had gone to the bathroom and closed the door to change clothes while I was left to my own devices. It wasn't pretty. Boney limbs and bordering-on-atrophied muscles. Thin face and sunken eyes. Dark circles and still-pale body. Thin, purpled nails and weakened legs. All of this wouldn't be noticeable if someone looked at me from afar, but up close...

I couldn't help but chuckle dryly. No humor in my tone. Can't even live or die right, for fucks sake.

I changed my clothes thoughtlessly while sitting down on a nearby chair, putting on the deltarune pajamas and slipping on the moccasins, while also folding the clothes I had on and placing them in a corner. I then got my cane back and started looking around the room.

Frisk started knocking on the door soon after to see if I was clear to go.

"You can come out, Frisket. I changed already."

Frisk got out of the bathroom with a worried face on her usually neutral features. "You okay, Chara?"

"..Yeah.. I'm okay." Fake smile plastered on my face. "Don't worry, okay Frisk?"

Frisk looked like she wanted to say something, but if she was going to protest, she didn't do it then. "..If you say so, Chara. You can tell me anything, okay?"

A bitter twinge at my chest pulsed as I lied through my teeth yet again. "Yeah. Let's go to Undyne, okay? I don't want to become swiss anytime soon."

Thankfully, Frisk giggled instead of continuing the already uncomfortable conversation. She didn't prod any further after hearing this, thank frick. "Okay. Let's go, Chara."

She grabbed my hand and we walked out of the room. I felt weird without my sweater and pants. The soft cotton felt alien on my skin, but I could get used to this. The moccasins were also welcome changes. They were fuzzy on the inside, as well as soft on the outside. Despite this, it felt much better than the ratty shoes I had on. Why did I have them on all the time anyway?

By the time we were back downstairs, Alphys and Undyne were in the other room, sitting on a couch that seemed to have come from nowhere. There was a table in front of them with every snack imaginable. From pocky to popcorn, taffy to trail mix. It made both of us hungry immediately.

"Hey, you're here! The pj's fit much better than I thought. Great job on that, MTT!" Undyne seemed much calmer now, thank god. Alphys sat next to her, curled in her side with a remote in her hand.

"O-Oh! Why don't you two, uh.. S-sit down? Feel free to take a-anything you'd like too!"

Frisk grabbed my hand again and pushed me on the couch to sit next to her. Pushy imp.

"Hey!"

"Hey what, punk?" Alphys also looked confused, since they didn't say anything.

"I ate her taffy." I replied almost automatically. Hopefully I could keep this up throughout the sleepover..

"I-if you say so, R-rei.." Alphys then turned her attention to the TV, where reruns of Mettaton's cooking show was playing. This time, he was teaching the crowd how to bake cookies. Sounds of happy monsters could be heard, and not the monotonous fake laughter that would be played in his old shows. In one ad break , he announced his move to the surface. I grabbed some marshmallows and nibbled at them haphazardly while I watched.

"Hm.. This is missing something.. I-I got it!" Alphys clapped twice and the lights dimmed until they turned off completely, giving the room a movie feel.

By now, everyone had gotten comfortable, so much so that we were almost a tangled mess of limbs. Alphys and Undyne lay curled together in one side of the plush sofa, their blushes had died down to a faint pinkness and they giggled in their seat. As for me and Frisk though, I was leaning on the side of one of the couches while Frisk just _plopped_ on me. I let out a quick 'oof' because I don't think that something so _sturdy_ should fall on me.

 _'Frisk. Frisk get off_ _-'_

 _'_ _hnnnn_ _.._ _nu.'_

 _'Frisk stop being a brat get o f f'_

 _'How about no?'_

 _'How about I eat all the snacks just to spite you?'_

 _'How dare'_

 _'i just did._

Frisk adjusted herself a bit, leaning most of her weight on the back of the bed and not on me, thank god. I sighed and scruffled her hair, getting a well deserved "Hey!" from Frisk and munching on some peanuts. Mettaton came after a good 10 minutes, this time in different pajamas. It was animal prints, but those animal prints were all in different strips to make a striped animal pattern shirt. The more I thought about it the harder it was to comprehend. Inception was freaky.

"I swear, I look pristine in the oldest of reruns!" Mettaton posed, his 8-bit screen was replaced with a 64-bit one, so he stuck his tongue out the same way he did on his EX form.

"If _only_ I could change to my better, improved form again…." When Mettaton saw that his hints weren't working, he let out an exasperated sigh and inched closer to Alphys despite her obvious deadpan.

"Alphys darling, you _MUST_ let me use my other form again sometime, preferably now.~" His hands were about to flip the switch on his back, but he stilled, looking at Alphys expectantly for the final say.

"M-Mettaton! I will not do that again! I used up all the p-power in the lab for three days! Do you know what I had to do just so Asgore wouldn't notice I wasn't working?"

"B-But babe…" Undyne held Alphys tighter in her arms. "Didn't you like that you could spend the time at my place?" Undyne pouted from her spot above Alphys, making her eyes widen at the onslaught of..

 _'Moe_ _+10000'_

 _'IT WAS SUPER EFFECTIVE!'_

Alphys grew red and stuttered for a moment, but then hugged Undyne's arm with a giggle. "O-Of course I did, Undyne."

"Now I'd hate to interrupt, darlings," Undyne and Alphys just jumped at the other voice, interrupting them from saying their sweet nothings. "-but I need my beauty rest. Take this, and holler for Burgerpants if you need me. Toodles!"

Without any warning, Mettaton threw a huge plush blanket over all of us. The fabric was so soft that it practically assaulted our senses. How did he get so much fabric softener, and just why did he do this?

Undyne was purring with the soft fabric, while Alphys trilled quietly. I looked down to see Frisk, who was putty by now. I pet the blanket for a while, and all my thoughts just melted away..

* * *

Chara fell asleep. You looked back to see your friend snoring while lightly clutching the fabric, having the most relaxed expression you've seen in the time you've known her. She was always so guarded, even with you; You wanted to change that. So she wouldn't have to suffer for your sake anymore than she already has. Even though she's a bit of a jerk.

You huffed, looking at the lights from the TV dancing across the tile floors. In this show, Mad Dummy had been a volunteer. This time he was making fruitcake. Using his knife and little dummy bullet patterns, Mad Dummy cut the fruitcake into surprisingly proportionate slices for the audience. Even the filming crew had come to eat some. Jerry complained about the nuts in it.

Fruitcake was never a favorite of yours. blech.

Undyne blinked at the TV with sleepy eyes, stroking Alphys's head affectionately while Alphys took off her glasses and curled deeper into the blanket.

"mm.. You cold, love?" Asked a sleepy undyne.

"Kind of. Pass me that remote, Undyne?" Alphys grabbed the remote from Undyne's hand and then pressed an odd button on it. Suddenly, the couch heated up in the most amazing way. You glanced at a tag on the couch, to find that it read: "For them cold blooded folk.". You felt the clutches of sleep drifting to your eyes, making them heavier until you kept your eyes more squinted than ever. The heat was more than enough to get Undyne and Alphys to fall asleep, leaving you to grab the remote and turn off the television.

You curled yourself against chara once more, laying across her chest and sighing. Finally, some rest…

* * *

 **Well, All of the characters are asleep, so you can't really possess them to see what is happening in their heads. It's a shame, I know. Oh.. uh.. Let me just get some cement for the fourth wall.. gosh this will take a while… So.. Ill just make it so they sleep for a good 30 minutes. Got any good construction crews on speed dial? Sorry for the inconvenience guys.. Unless you want to see me again, but that wouldn't be relevant to the story at all...or would it?**

* * *

You spent a lot of time drifting from sleep to drowsiness, to and fro like a broken scale. You listened to Chara's heartbeat at some point, finding immense comfort in hearing the same 'lub dup'. It was prove that she was alive. It was proof that she was here, and you weren't letting that go to waste.

You were lulled back to sleep in just a matter of minutes, and nothing could ruin this moment as of now.

"WHY HELLO MY FRIENDS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ARRIVED!"

The shrill voice got all of you but chara awake with a jolt, Undyne summoned spears on reflex, aiming them at the source of that _horrendous sound that should never be uttered to a sleeping person_ \- but hesitated once she actually opened her eyes and blinked at who yelled in such a beautiful moment.

"AGH—wait.. Papyrus?"

Chara stirred from underneath you, but you tried to calm her down with your link, which succeeded just a bit. Her breathing slowed and she fell back to sleep again.

"YES! IT IS I, UNDYNE! I AM OFFICIALLY READY FOR THE SLEEPING OVERS!" Papyrus wore a black onesie with white bone prints littered across the fabric. It came with a sleeping cap and a night mask, but the mask was around his neck instead.

"Papyrus, I told you to come two hours after now—Oh forget it. Lets do this then!" Undyne smacked herself in the face and brightened up with her usual amount of energy. You started wondering if she'd done this before. And if it worked on humans. Asking for a friend...

Papyrus got a nearby couch that was surprisingly just as long as him, grabbed the same kind of plush blanket and started taking out different board games, setting them on another table. There were a few you could recognize, like scrabble and snakes and ladders, but there were some others that you couldn't understand for the life of you. Japes and joys, which was apparently about setting traps for other players to fall in, and Dragopoly, which was monopoly, but the characters are all gold hoarding dragons.

"NOW, LET US ENJOY IN THIS JAPEY FUN BOARDGAME EXPERIENCE! NYEH! WHICH WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY, FELLOW PLAYERS?"

You looked at Chara from where you were sitting, and it seemed like she had reached that state of sleep where you don't even dream. You covered her in a bit more of the blanket, hiding her face from Papyrus's angle of vision while keeping her more comfortable.

You pointed at the snakes and ladders game. It was the only one that you had most luck in back home. Undyne looked at the box before grinning. "I knew you'd pick the best one, Frisk! No wonder we're besties! You wanna play that one too, Alphys?"

"S-Sure!"

"IT IS SETTLED THEN, FRIENDS OF MINE! LET US COMMENCE THE SNAKE-Y JAPERY!"

Alphys grabbed some gummy worms and watched as Papyrus started setting the board game down, putting the pieces in place and asking who was going to be what color. Chara was still asleep, and it seemed like Papyrus didn't know she was here yet. Good. The less he knew the better.

You were going to be the green piece while Alphys was yellow, Undyne was blue, and Papyrus was red. The game ended pretty well, Alphys won, then Papyrus won second, Undyne won third and you got fourth. Though, you had to admit; you weren't half as invested in the game as Undyne was, since she was raging with every snake she fell on. You had to reassure her that the game was pure chance, and even then she seemed miffed. It took another playthrough to get her to calm down.

In the middle of your second playthrough though, Papyrus seemed oddly distant. "BY THE WAY, YOUNG HUMAN FRISK, WHO IS THAT BEHIND YOU?"

You flinched; how did he know that Chara was there? You acted the fool and looked behind you, only to find that Chara's auburn hair had somehow slipped from under the blanket, and since you got up the rise and fall of her chest was obvious.

"Oh, that's just Rei. They're a human that fell down just recently, actually!" Undyne commented, grabbing a few handfuls of trail mix and pouring some golden flower tea in a nearby cup.

"ANOTHER HUMAN? HOW STRANGE. WHEN THEY WAKE UP, YOU MUST INTRODUCE ME, FRISK! ALL FRIEND OPPORTUNITIES MUST BE MET! FOR I HAVE STANDARDS!"

"Indeed you do, Papyrus." You said, covering Chara up once more, but this time you made sure that she could have some breathing room while making it so nobody would see her from any major angles. Hopefully Papyrus didn't know anything about resets. His strange lines about 'familiarity' made you suspicious.

You grimaced at the thought of your sins, each memory weighing you down, a writhing, gut-wrenching feeling of guilt, remorse and self-hate crawled in your flesh and suddenly, you found it hard to look at anyone in the room for the rest of the game.

You won this time. You didn't feel like any winner.

* * *

It took a while for Chara to wake up from her comfy spot. She got up in a strange way, flailing her arms a bit to grab onto something stable before grabbing onto the back of the large sofa and hoisting herself upright. Eventually, she did get to sit up after a while of drowsy clumsiness. Afterwards, she spent a few minutes just breathing and looking around, blinking owlishly and stretching, bones popping and cricking as she sighed a bit, then after this strange, sleepy routine, she looked over to what Frisk was doing.

"hnn… Whatcha' doin' Friskadoodle?" asked chara as she peered over Frisk's shoulder, watching her friend play Dragopoly. She snickered at the properties that frisk had gotten so far; Frisk had only purchased one property. It had a hotel and everything too. Undyne had the boardwalk from Waterfall, and Papyrus had Capitol Place; both of which were the most expensive locations on the map.

"How'd ya sleep, Rei?"

"Like royalty. Also, you're fried, Frisk. They'll never step on that one square."

"Nuh uh I'm not fried and also, they will."

"How?"

"Because I'm determined!" Frisk took a moment to create a fake air-rainbow around herself before continuing, and counting her money so far.

"I'm gonna win at this, Papyrus! Don't test my luck!"

"NYEH! AS IF YOU COULD COMPARE TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MASTER DRAGOPOLIST?"

Papyrus seemed to notice her right then and there, shooting up from his spot at the sofa and putting his blanket aside to hold out his hand to a sleepy Chara.

Chara tried not to jump at the sudden movement, and succeeded, restraining the reflex to just a mild tremor. She craned her head to look at papyrus, who still had his hand outstretched expectantly.

"WHY HELLO, NEW HUMAN-WHOSE-NAME-I-DO-NOT-KNOW-YET-FOR-SOME-REASON! MY NAME IS PAPYRUS, FUTURE MONSTER AMBASSADOR AND MASCOT! WHO MIGHT YOU BE?"

Chara glanced at Papyrus' gloved hand, before grabbing it tentatively and nodding. "My name's potato." Frisk guffawed and almost spat her cocoa at hearing this, but froze when Chara did a scissors motion with her fingers. Frisk knew this one; it meant 'cut it out'. following the prank, Frisk found the ceiling tiles to have become more interesting, and focused on them instead. Undyne and Alphys already knew it was a joke, and preferred to watch from the sidelines as the joke unfolded. "It is a pleasure to be your acquaintance."

Papyrus seemed unfazed by Frisk, and replied. "THE PLEASURE IS MINE, POTATO! LETS BE FRIENDS!" "sure, Papyrus. Does this make us.."

Papyrus got the google eyes of doom, the warning reflex that he could never detain when his body detected a bad joke of any caliber.

"POTATO. DO NOT-"

" _Spuddies_ _?_ " Chara fingergunned papyrus, but it was too late, for the dirty deed had been done.

Papyrus' stare was blank, and he promptly skipped out of the room and returned with a book. But not just any book, a book of standards! Did he get to snowdin that fast, or did he always have it with him?

He put the book on the last free spot on the table, and the book opened to a page that must have been read a LOT. At this point, you wouldn't even be able to set the book down on a flat surface without it turning to that page.

"RIGHT HERE," Chara's attention was snapped out of her daze, rubbing her eyes and looking at the bold paragraph in front of her. "IN ARTICLE 24, SECTION 3 PARAGRAPH 4 OF THE BOOK OF STANDARDS, BAD PUNS SHALL BE PROHIBITED UNLESS UTTERED BY THE ONE AND ONLY PAPYRUS! (and sans, if it is a particularly bad day and he needs to cheer up.) ANY ATTEMPT TO PUN, BOONSWOGGLE, DILLY-DALLY, DAD-JOKE OR SLAPSTICK SHALL BE PUNISHED WITH.."

Papyrus dramatically shut the book, looking at the audience gravely as he finished his grim sentence. "NO LAUGHTER."

Chara gasped in mock-horror, clutching her chest and falling back on top of frisk's shoulder. "The horror!"

"INDEED, POTATO. INDEED." Papyrus set the book down, leaning the cover on one side of the couch and getting himself comfy as well, marking the end of the perilous news.

* * *

After playing games, eating snacks, enjoying life and such, all of them had gotten tired. Despite the nap that they had taken, it was nowhere close to being a restful sleep. What with all of the monsters getting ready to move, everyone had been working on something. Undyne had to keep everything in order; a job she rarely had to do with how uneventful the underground was. Alphys had to monitor everything and plan out how the underground would make it's debut to humanity, Papyrus was moving and helping others get their things packed, Frisk had literally saved the underground just three days ago, and with Chara to think about, things weren't any less hectic. Chara was no exception, as she had just woken up from death yesterday.

…Maybe that's why she was so fatigued, now that Frisk thought about it clearer. Chara was nibbling on some skittles absentmindedly, chewing each one with little thought. Frisk plucked a skittle from her hands, getting an annoyed bop from Chara. There was barely any force into it, nor bad intent, as Frisk expected.

"I BELIEVE IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT THIS SLEEPOVER WAS A SUCCESS, FRIENDS OF MINE!" Papyrus grinned happily while laying back on his pillow.

"YEAH! I KNEW IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO DO THIS! NGAH! Let's do this again sometime!" Undyne grinned but paused for a bit.

"But, you know. In the surface." Her grin came back and undyne sighed, leaning on the armrest of the couch.

Frisk couldn't read minds, but she was sure that everyone (minus Chara) was thinking about their plans for the surface. Frisk would do as she always did, go to the orphanage for a final goodbye, live with Toriel.. But how were they going to get chara into the mix?

Even though the last silent moments were awkward, this was more of a hopeful, comfortable pause. The brightest source of light was from the television, which was turned off when Alphys saw that nobody was watching after a while.

"S-so.. I guess its goodbye to the underground now.. huh?" Alphys smiled, her tone could only be described as bittersweet. "D-Don't get me wrong! I… I'm so happy that we can finally leave!.. but.. what will happen to this place? What will happen to us?"

Undyne nuzzled Alphys's head for a bit, giving her a peck before reassuring her. "Don't worry Alphys, I'll make sure that we're all happy there! Trust me!"

"Y-yeah! But I'm just thinking.. Frisk, how many humans are in the surface?"

Frisk hesitated, but stopped upon seeing Alphys' face; a mixture of worry and unease, but hope and joy. She couldn't lie to her, so she responded. "about 8 billion right now."

Alphys visibly jumped, undyne had to hug her to calm her down. "E-e-eight BILLION?! H-HOW?" Her eyes were as wide as saucers, like she could barely believe the number Frisk had uttered.

"Breathe, babe!" Undyne's reassuring voice got Alphys to calm down from her fit, but even then she was nervous.

"B-But Undyne- We only have about 300 monsters t-total—a-and i-if the humans w-want another w-war-!"

"Then I'll fight them all! NGAH!" Undyne summoned a spear in her hand and pumped her fist into the air, but then disintegrated it as quick as it came, opting to cuddle with alphys instead. Alphys looked like she was going to say something else, but stopped herself and looked away.

"I-if you s-say so, U-undyne.." Alphys nuzzled into undyne's arm, curling her tail around Undyne's leg and rested her eyes. The uncertainty in her tone was enough to make Frisk worry.

What was going to happen now?

Frisk hugged Chara from under the covers and fell asleep in just a moment of hearing the same comforting heartbeat. Chara fell asleep already. Pff, that dork.

Things would be alright as long as you could help it.

You are filled with..

Nobody saw two SOULS pop into view, shining a glowing red into the living room for a brief moment. But Frisk did. Proof that they both had..

 _Determination._

[*Save]

* * *

In the late hours of the night, a figure clothed in a blue jacket walks through the lab doors, and not even the cameras can note when he gets in or out. They go to the living room, footsteps silent and unassuming, and they check on Papyrus before leaving.

But they take note of the other child that is next to Frisk. And they know that something has changed. Two colors; yellow and blue. Justice and patience.

They'll keep judging for now.

"…heh. That's one heck of a **'stick'** you got there, kid. But hey, **I'll play along**." They mutter under their breath.

And Sans disappears from sight once more.


	5. Bad times make bad memories

**Chapter warning for more descriptive injury, gore, and the sans fight. Yep, that one. Also cursing, bad little kids, and bad ways of DEALING with said kids. Don't blame me, I'm just here for the show.**

Also, what _ is saying isn't exactly true...

* * *

Pain. That's all you have felt in this entire damned route. Bullets never hurt as much as how you feel, and even that's being numbed by LOVE.

Dust. Dust everywhere. There's dust in your clothes, dust in your hair, dust on your skin, dust near your eyes, if it hasn't gotten in your eyes yet, that is. You didn't know what time it was, you didn't know what day it was. You didn't even know if you slept or ate in the span of four days. You were empty and it was agonizing.

Then there's the fighting. The **killing.** You killed every monster that you could come across. You chased them to their demise. You never let go of the toy knife, or the tough gloves, or the tutu and ballerina shoes. Anything you could use, you used it. Anything you could grab, you grabbed. You stole and hurt and hurt and hurt and hurt an **d hurt and hurt and** -

And now it's quiet.

 **Too quiet.**

You walked through new home, gazing at the grey walls apathetically. The first time you saw the city you were so curious and happy to be 'home'. What a joke. You were relishing in flowey's expression, watching with a blank, murderous smile as he writhed away to any other dust-covered spot in this hellhole. So scared, so.. pitiful. Though he's empty at least he has some semblance of self-preservation. All the better for when you stab through that disgusting face of his.

You walked into a corridor. You expected it to be empty, like most other evacuated areas, but it wasn't. Instead, a single familiar figure stood in front of you, his expression a threat and a promise that you weren't going to get through easily.

So you accepted his challenge. He was the easiest enemy; only dealing one damage. You'll make it quick if he stays still.

You kept your distance, securing **our** locket on with a click before tucking it under your sweater. You grabbed your knife, already confident in victory because of how high your LV is. This bastard didn't do anything in the entire massacre, the coward. You wiped your face with a relatively clean spot on your sweater, making sure you were ready for a fight that this scum would remember, and then, knife clutched in hand, you approached.

And then you couldn't move.

"…Heya."

"So.. You've been busy, huh?"

His stupid question was met with silence. You were waiting for the fight.

"So, I've got a question for ya. Do you think that even the worst person can change? That anyone can be a good person, if they just try?"

You stopped trying. There was no point; everyone was horrible. Everyone hurt you. But you would be a hypocrite now, wouldn't you?

His face was critical and had a bitterness about it. It's almost as if he was mad that you killed his brother.

"Heh heh heh heh... All right. Well, here's a better question."

"Do you wanna have bad time?" his eyelights flickered out. You twitched, anxious to get this nuisance out of the way and finish off the monster king.

"Cause if you take another step forward... You are REALLY not going to like what happens next."

Threats huh? You'll show him just how much of a threat you could be. You took a step forward, no longer held back by whatever kept you in place and readied yourself.

"Welp. Sorry, old lady. This is why I never make promises."

He pulled out your soul with a suffocating tug and you wheezed, dizzy from the clutch he had around your being. It floated in front of you normally and your head panged in a dull ache. You took hesitant breaths, steeling yourself again and watching closely for his next move.

"It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, flowers are blooming... On days like these, kids like you.."

" ."

Cyan and Yellow. The two last things before you died. Open skull fracture and a severe concussion from when he slammed you on the tile floors. Not a good start.

* * *

"Heya. You look frustrated about something. **Guess I'm pretty good at my job, huh?** " You glared at him, not bothering to acknowledge his statement. You ran to stab him, starting the battle and not bothering to listen to his opening spiel. After going through the initial attacks, he seemed to look like he saw something familiar. The smiley bastard can't remember that well, huh? Oh, you were totally going to exploit this.

"Huh. Always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first." You clutched your knife and swung at him with all your might, expecting him to die immediately. What he did though, shocked you.

That son of a bitch **dodged.**

He can't keep dodging forever.

Your turn ended and he grinned with his disgusting, fake, hypocritical, holier than thou, liar liar **liar liar LIAR-**

"What? You think I'm just gonna stand there and take it?"

Rounds of bones appeared with a small crawl space in between, forcing you to jump between them. Some hit and bruised your shoulders others were too close for comfort, but you somehow ended up surviving until his turn was ended. You took a deep breath to re-adjust a dislocated joint with a disheartening crack before eating a GlamBurger and waiting for his turn.

"Our reports showed a massive anomaly in the spacetime continuum. Timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting..."

More bones appeared. Normal, blue, normal, blue, shit—You dodged the bones but something was weighing you down. You started feeling.. something.

You felt your sins on your back. The lives of the monsters you killed; their dust is on your hands you disgusting spawn of hell. Your HP was sinking down with the bullets that hit you. Karma. You heard the voices of them. Toriel, Undyne, Mettaton, Papyrus- you couldn't breathe, you couldn't think. Your hold on the knife tightened so much that your skin was to the point of blistering under the gritty dust ingrained on your palms.

"Until suddenly, everything ends."

More bones came in different sizes and different speeds; your soiled SOUL was still struggling to deal with the poison of your sins until another one came rushing towards you. You couldn't move with the shock, resorting to stabbing your other arm to get yourself back and running. It bled profusely, a dark red mixing with the dust from your dirty knife.

You used your turn to briefly tie your arm with a torn sleeve from your sweater and then you attacked again, swinging and hoping that your blade could go through that annoying face of his, and then you'd stab and stab and stab until you stopped feeling so bad for simple retribution. They deserved this. They did worse. They should have died in the war. You spat some dust from your mouth and glared at him.

"Heh heh heh... That's your fault isn't it?" His eyes were flickered out but you didn't care. You saw it too many times to care.

Platforms. You jumped onto one, then another, then a last and then a huge femur came in by surprise with a simple **snap. Crackle. Pop.**

 **Your neck was facing the wrong way now.**

The birds weren't singing. They were cheering.

* * *

You woke up with a gasp, grabbing your neck, making sure it was intact. You took deep breaths and drank a sea tea with shaky hands, hesitantly turning your head and finally getting a hold of yourself, allowing your SOUL to be wrapped with LOVE once more. You got up and ran to him, knife in hand but he stopped you at the same place.

"Hmm.. That expression. That's the expression of someone who's died twice in a row. Suffice to say, you look really.. Unsatisfied. All right. How about we make this a **third?** "

The same thing. Dodge, platform, keep your damned head, Attack, dodge, listen, ignore, attack attack attack **he can't keep dodging forever-**

"You can't understand how this feels. Knowing that one day, without any warning... It's all going to be reset."

Patterns everywhere. You slowly memorized them. You broke your leg, using what you had as a tourniquet and healing the wounds with a Glamburger. **Snap.**

"Look. I gave up trying to go back a long time ago."

Lasers burning your arms. Speeding bones slicing your limbs, airborne dust mixing with spilt blood and pouring on the floors. You get up and slip on your blood only to scrabble away from some lasers. The air burns your oxygen-deprived lungs, you need to breathe and every time you inhale its dust. Ozone permeates the halls, Sans' pokerfaced grin overridden with barely contained grief. If he could move his mouth you doubt his face would stay like that. **Crackle.**

You drink a sea tea. You need to be faster, better, stronger. Your calloused ( _little)_ hands are rubbed thin with dust. You feel ( _ **sick hurt horrible demon monster monster monster)**_ -nothing. They deserved this.

"And getting to the surface doesn't really appeal anymore, either."

You attack again once you find you have enough HP, but Karma is weighing you down and you doubt you'll live long enough for the next turn.

"'Cause even if we do... We'll just end up right back here, without any memory of it, right?"

You see his movements growing less intricate. His pattern's more open. He dodges, but you feel like he is going to lose soon enough.

"To be blunt... It makes it kind of hard to give it my all. ...or is that just a poor excuse for being lazy...? Hell if I know."

"All I know is... Seeing what comes next... I can't afford not to care anymore. Ugh... That being said... You, uh, really like swinging that thing around, huh?...listen."

You stop. You feel so heavy, but you listen regardless. Dead eyes meet grieving ones, and for a moment, there's no fighting.

"I know you didn't answer me before, but... Somewhere in there. I can feel it. There's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. Someone who once wanted to do the right thing. Someone, who in another time, might have even been... A friend? C'mon, buddy. Do you remember me? Please, if you're listening... Let's forget all of this, OK? Just lay down your weapon and... Well, my job would be a lot easier."

"…"

"ha.. Haha.." Your dusty, gritty, LOVE-stricken voice is put into function once more. The irony of this is so, _so, (I didn't want to do this anymore but we couldn't stop we just don't want to be hurt please no more)_ \- **Disgusting.**

"You.. You think that's going to make things better? You **hypocrite."** You pointed your knife accusingly at him, mania and LOVE on your face. Sans' face was blank, trying to act like he did nothing wrong? It's his fault, not yours! Its everyone's fault. They don't understand. They never understand.

"You **coward.** Trying to get **me** to apologize for what you did? Well guess what, Everyone in this disgusting pit of hell deserved it."

You lunged at him, aiming for his eye sockets before he dodged again, shrugging and acting like he wasn't going to betray you like everyone did. I died and they never cared. Nobody cares.

"All of you decide to murder me countless times, and I had to play nice and kiss their booboos. Now I decide to do the same to all of you repulsive creatures, and I'M the one to blame?"

"Welp, it was worth a shot. Guess you like doing things the hard way, huh?"

You dodged. More. More. More. Eat don't die- jump, dodge, jump, duck, eat, **throw up on the tiles after one of the bones impaled your stomach**. You were dying slowly as bile irritated your throat, stabbing yourself to finally get it over with. **Pop.**

* * *

You forgot what he said.

"Sounds strange, but before all of this I was secretly hoping we could be friends. I always thought the anomaly was doing this because they were unhappy. And when they got what they wanted, they would stop all this."

 **Snap. Your bones. Better than most tries.**

* * *

 **Crackle. Your skin under the heat of the blasters as it peels off like a ripe tomato. You felt everything and nothing after that try, but every time you hugged yourself before facing sans, you flinched.**

* * *

 **Pop. Your eyes. Sans killed you relatively quickly after being met face to face with another set of eye sockets. The light hurt after you woke up.**

* * *

"And maybe all they needed was... I dunno. Some good food, some bad laughs, some nice friends. But that's ridiculous, right? Yeah, you're the type of person that won't EVER be happy."

Shut up shut up shut up you disgusting horrible liar I trusted you-

"You'll keep consuming timelines until... Well. Hey. Take it from me, kid. Someday... You gotta learn to QUIT. And that day's TODAY. Cause... Y'see... All this fighting is really tiring me out."

Good. Keep attacking. You will never quit. You're the only person who cares.

"And if you keep pushing me... Then I'll be forced to use my special attack. Yeah, my special attack. Sound familiar? Well, get ready. Cause after the next move, I'm going to use it. So if you don't want to see it, now would be a good time to die."

You attack again.

"Well, here goes nothing... Are you ready? Survive THIS and I'll show you my special attack!"

What happened after that was pure and utter **hell.**

You dodged through various loops, seeming to go through different spaces in periods of time. Blank, you were dodging through bones. Blank, you needed to fall down and try not to die. Blank, you jumped to avoid a wall of bones, and when that was done, you were flung across the hall, trying as you could to stay away from the waves of bullets.

And when that was done, he grabbed your SOUL and slammed you on the ceiling, then the floor, then the walls, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and-

Boom landing on your head, you couldn't think.

Slam on your ribs, you couldn't breathe.

Crackle goes your nerves, you could barely see.

Pop goes the eardrums, you couldn't hear.

Snap, it's a miracle if you can move.

Skull definitely broken.

Bang, blood rushed down your nose, your sinuses seemed clogged in blood and your brain felt nonexistent. Your ears were ringing and your ribcage was most definitely broken in some parts. You wheezed when you breathed and your arms were broken from trying to catch yourself. You never let go of the knife.

He stopped slamming, eventually growing too tired to even scoot you across the floor. He let go of your SOUL and you slumped to the ground, trying to breathe, trying to do something, anything. It hurts. LOVE couldn't even numb this.

It hurts.

You glanced at your sweater. It was stained red. Your arms were broken in several places. You bled internally, ribs stabbing your lungs as blood entered your airways. Air entered your lungs with a gurgle.

Blood ran down your ears, your eyes, your mouth, your arms and probably a lot of other places you couldn't even pronounce.

What were you determined for again?

Tears mixed with bloody eyes as burst capillaries and a swollen everything just kept trying. Trying to live. Trying to fix the damage when you didn't even know what to do.

Your femur poked out from your leg, pinching surrounding muscle and rendering it useless. Your arms were both dislocated. Your jaw felt like it was out of place. You swallowed a few teeth. You didn't know if you were dead or alive as you zoned out, only able to nibble on half of your Glamburger to hope to restore your HP, which was at 1.

You wheezed more, but you ate it successfully, healing one broken arm. You adjusted your shoulder before popping it back in place and using gravity to pop in the other with a rocking motion. You grabbed the chef's apron and tore it, making a successful tourniquet for your arm and leg then finally slumping back on the floor to breathe and think.

There was nothing to think about. You glanced at the halls, unable to hear what Sans was saying but knowing there wasn't anything of use in what he was going to say. He sweat profusely, tired in every single imaginable way.

"Huff... Puff... All right. That's it. It's time for my special attack. Are you ready? Here goes nothing..."

You ate another bite of the glamburger, noting how you could hear a little bit more.

"Yep. That's right. It's literally nothing. And it's not going to be anything, either. Heh heh heh... Ya get it? I know I can't beat you. One of your turns... You're just gonna kill me. So, uh, I've decided... It not gonna BE your turn. Ever. I'm just gonna keep having MY turn until you give up. Even if it means we have to stand here until the end of time. Capiche?"

You stared at him blankly.

"You'll get bored here. If you haven't gotten bored already, I mean. And then, you'll finally quit."

You wanted him gone.

"I know your type. You're, uh, very determined, aren't you? You'll never give up, even if there's, uh... absolutely NO benefit to preserving whatever. If I can make that clear. No matter what, you'll just keep going. Not out of any desire to be good or evil... But just because you think you can. And because you "can"... ...you "have to"."

You wanted him **dead**.

"But now, you've reached the end. There is nothing left for you now. So, uh, in my personal opinion... The most "determined" thing you can do here? Is to, uh, completely give up. And... (yawn) do literally anything else."

He closed his eyes and you crept up, measuring the way you would attack before lunging at him with your one good arm and leg, aiming for his ribs. Let's see how he enjoys what he did to you, eh?

He dodged, but after all of this you were too determined to let this go on further.

"Heh, didja really think you would be able-"

And with your knife, his ribs went **snap, crackle, pop.**

"... ... ... So... Guess that's it, huh?...just... Don't say I didn't warn you. Welp. I'm going to Grillby's... Papyrus, do you want anything?" He wheezed, getting out of your field of vision to die in peace, or probably to not give you the satisfaction of seeing his demise.

F̷̤͔̫̀̎r̷̡͙͔̥͠C̷̨͕̖̜̺͊̄͂̒̅̋̊̂̍͝h̴͈̩̺͍̹͍̠̩̹͖͕͎̉͗ä̷̡̗͚̦͍͖̭͔̱͈͆̆̎̈́͌̅͛I̴̢̛͙̻͙͙̫͎̩̳̿̈́̔́̍̆̚̕͠s̴͈̬̻̮̳͙̪̎̈́̽̋̽̈̉͜k̴̝͛̏̈́̒̓̑́͛͘̕͝r̴̝̦͈̺̃̃̑̉̌̑a̸̡̛͈̠̼̙̗̘̅̔̅͂̏̽̽͊͛̇͘̕ͅ

Judgement Hall: 12:45.

[SAVED]

[ **Continue** ] [RESET]

And collapsed on the tile floors, covered in bloodstains, dust, and LOVE.

*Doomed to death of KARMA!*


	6. The family they never knew they needed

**A/N: I want to say that uh.. I was captured by an intense writers block and it was hard to write without it feeling forced and uneven (which is probably how this chapter feels like but yolo) But I will be updating this story more often, especially since there's quite a few of you that love this story (which is what fuels me to pump out more chapters.)**

 **But oh god I haven't updated in a while. Jeez, I thought it was like a month or so that I posted the last chapter but nooope, it was three. sorry :/**

 **Needless to say, it's... been a while since I worked on this story, and there's a possibility that most of the people who follow this story think it's long past dead, but hey, that's life... that's what all the people say...**

 **You're ridin' high in April...**  
 **Shot down in May...**  
 **But I know I'm gonna chaaaaange that June...~**

 **I still have fingers, so I'll write until I lose them okay? good.**

* * *

Frisk knows what happened. She was there. She felt it all just as Chara did. The tight, unmoving grip they had on the knife, the smooth, cool touch of metal that was soon warmed by her hands. The way flesh turned to dust with a simple plunge of a knife, fizzing away like petals in the wind. The caked feeling of dust between her fingers, on her sweater, pants and in her hair. The grittiness of fabric against the powder, the unnatural way that they walked; infected with LOVE. The twitching. So much twitching.

The fighting. The way people fell like weeds to a single child.

The way she felt satisfied, in a horrible, morbid sense.

The numbness that came with power. LOVE. The sort of invincibility that raised her ATK and DEF. She could stab herself right then and there with a magic attack and she'd feel nothing. She feels nothing. That lust for more power... for more strength. The fear. The Hate. The anger.

Frisk stops herself in her tracks; halting Chara in the process. Chara is barely there; lost in a sort of daze. It's there that they realize they haven't eaten. They haven't slept. They haven't even had a drop of water to drink. Blood and dust leave a sickly trail in the caves of Waterfall. So they get something to eat. Monsters run with their children. They don't run for much longer.

They sit down for the first time in days, strained muscles finally finding some sort of reprieve as they drink the sea tea in silence. They hear monsters running and get up to make everything silent again. Once they get back to drink the rest of the now cold tea, it's there that they realize they only taste dust.

She felt Chara, who was in control alongside her. The rage, indignation of the world, being forced to rip off the rose-tinted glasses and to see monsterkind how it truly was. A dying, desperate race ready to do anything to keep existing.

The laughter. Uncontrollable laughter. Every death made her laugh some more. Every wound was a giggle.

The only semblance of emotion on their blank slate of a face was that of a murderous pervert.

They stopped once, she recalls, to see their reflection in the water.

*its.. it's still us.* Chara muttered. Any moral sanity was barely there. Lost. Thoughts were harder to make than anything; only echoes of killing and more killing.

Sans watches them from the distance. They both know he's watching.

There's many times where the LV wears off, just a little. Where the poison ebbs away to reveal two very hurt children. When that happens, all they feel is pain. Both of them; unimaginable and excruciating, every nerve on fire as they shake in cold sweat, trying to find someone else to end for the LV to kick in again.

She doesn't care about them much anymore. Like they never cared about her.

She lets Chara have most of the control, staying back and watching. observing. Seeing how they react to losing everything just as she had. GIving their all for something that would be pointless at the end. Risking their lives for the people they love. Sacrificing everything for more time, going through pain and tears. And for what? they died anyway.

She felt bad, of course she did! but everything could just be reset. Yes... everything didn't matter if it could just be rewound with the literal press of a button.

So she watches, and keeps watching. She plays the part in some, other times she just stays numb.

Chara was angry, feral in a sense. Her pride and loyalty was something Frisk couldn't imagine herself having at most. Not anymore. While Frisk was more of a neutral person, Chara was obviously very decided in what she wanted and needed. She sees Flowey pop up at times and grows angry. She remembers what happened; the deaths she went through, the hurt he put her through.

Frisk sees Sans; his hurt and restrained fury that lay behind those casual eyes. She smiles to herself, just a little. Chara smiles too. He takes a shortcut and leaves.

Toriel dies. She... regrets it.

Papyrus dies. She doesn't like it.

Undyne dies. She doesn't mind.

Mettaton dies. She's...happy.

Flowey still grovels for attention. For survival. He was so two-faced. But then Flowey realizes something. They'd kill him in cold blood if they needed to.

He flees, but she'll catch him soon.

Then Sans.

Sans is hell.

She fights and fights and fights and fights and

hurthurthurthurthurthurthurt

painpainpainpainpainpain-

Death.

So much death.

She wakes up in the same spot near the door. Chara is shaking and frozen before both of them get up again. The room is blurry and they can practically see all the bloodstains in the room that never happened yet. Dust. They breathe some in by accident and it smells like butterscotch pie. They retch.

Then death.

Chara needs help. Frisk helps.

They kill him. Bones pop and slice under the knife, she hears him wheeze huskily and shake for just a moment when she sees blood- no.. ketchup- it's ketchup.. She watches in grim satisfaction as Chara looks incredulous, as if in disbelief that they finally did it. He leaves to dust in peace in his brother's room.

Then comes Asgore. She feels rage. She kills him easily. He didn't fight back; he had nothing to fight for. She sees him watering the flowers, but there's so many sprinklers that she knew he never needed to water them in the first place. He smiles as he dusts.

Then Flowey.

She blacks out. She cuts and tears and stabs until his disgusting face is a pulpy mulch at her feet. She steps on his remains and lets them smear across the floor before she's satisfied.

She goes further in.

Further.

Further.

And everything is black.

She ends everything.

But Chara brings it back.

And she can't stop crying.

Everything hurts.

* * *

Frisk had woken up to see Chara already awake and eating some beef ramen.

"Did... Did I miss anything?"

"No, nothing much. You just missed a lot of bad cooking and some taste-testings from hell. Blech. But hey, at least there's ramen. Yours is on the table."

"Ooh thanks!"

Frisk picked up the... chicken ramen.

"How did you know this is my favorite?"

"I dunno, didn't you tell me?"

"No... I never did."

"That's weird."

The thought lingered in an odd pause, but they both resumed eating regardless. Chara was more voracious though; by the time she was done with the ramen she had another one prepared.

"Hungry, aren'tcha'?" Said Undyne as she sat on the opposite end of the couch, apparently after having a very intense conversation on which battle cry is the coolest. Alphys tried as she could to explain what "Nya" actually meant, but Undyne just wasn't having it.

"Mhm." Chara finished taking a long sip of the broth before responding. "It's very... uh... meaty."

"Eh, the pasta was going to be even cooler, but Mettaton stopped us before we set the house on fire. What a wuss. I don't even know what we did wrong this time! right Papyrus?"

"R-RIGHT UNDYNE!" Said Papyrus as he doused the flame. He came back out with tomato... everywhere. He took a moment to flick some of the pulp out of his eyesocket while Undyne picked out a glob of seeds from her gills.

"U-Undyne... I d-dont think that pasta is supposed to start... g-growling..."

Undyne's fins flared up in shock just a tad as she smiled back at them sheepishly. "I'll uh.. take care of that real quick. You scrubs get comfortable, y'hear?"

"Gotcha."

"Crystal"

Alphys was going to say something, but decided to head over to the action instead.

"I don't even want to know what's happening in there."

"It's better if you don't; I don't even think there's a kitchen in here."

"Ew. And how the heck can pasta growl?"

"Everything is magic, Frisko."

"I miss real food."

"I miss real beef, but it be like that sometimes."

Frisk sighed. Things were going really smoothy for once; after all this time of hectic frenzies and moving around... it was nice to sit down and simply think.

Chara was satisfied after eating her fill of ramen and sat down beside Frisk, sidling up to her gently. "What are we going to do in the surface..?"

"No idea. We'll need to go to a school, or maybe Toriel can teach us at home. We'd have our rooms and find out what to do with Asriel, then we'd just... live."

"I prefer getting taught by Toriel... but.. The thought of just being in the sun again is nice. How many years have passed..?"

"Do you remember what year it was when you fell?"

"No idea."

"Well, you'll be in for a treat."

* * *

Toriel is a simple woman. She doesn't mind little interruptions in her daily life, oh no. She's the first one to welcome change in her household. Seeing the monsters come into the Ruins after they'd been closed for so long, and greeting her subjects not as a queen, but as a fellow citizen had given her life a newfound passion. Her things weren't fully packed; perhaps because she didn't want to bring her furnishings, knowing the sadness that was involved with them. This was the fresh start she craved. Like a flame, burning everything for life to come soon after, she would do the same for her future on the surface.

And yet, she feels like this feeling is familiar. Like she had done this before. A silly thought, but it had lingered regardless. Bah, never leave an old woman to ponder, lest she'd lose her mind. Instead, she busied herself putting her plants and her few sentimental items in a separate space in her room.

She eyed the single buttercup on her bookshelf. One she tried so hard to keep from seeing, for the sight of its sickly yellow petals would remind her of her failures as a mother. But now, she eyes the harmless little flower and thinks almost nothing of it. The old wounds have left her with scars, but even those deep cuts have healed and faded. It was time to let go. She grabs the pot holding the buttercup gently, and heads over to the old tree in her courtyard. Then, she patiently digs a small hole, frees the bloom from it's pot and plants it alongside the old and twisted oak.

This tree was special, once upon a time. The trees above the mountain had dropped a single seed; one that had somehow made it past the barrier. Was it fate? Did one of the children drop it as they fell down? It didn't matter for her regardless, because that tree was a hope. A hope that life could still be beautiful in the underground.

The tree had grown, almost as old as she had been. Yet.. now it wasn't a hope, but an old friend that shared a similar kind of suffering. It's once red leaves all fallen down and scattered into piles, where monsters had saved them as a reminder of how they used to be. She touches the gnarled bark with a sort of gratitude for anchoring her when she needed a hope to hang onto.

Every time this tree grew some new leaves, they all fell down; but now it was different. Tiny buds grew on the tree, showing a new beginning. A small reminder that hope was not lost. It seemed as though the oak tree always wanted to teach her something. She smiled to herself. Somehow this dark little room had gotten just a bit of sunlight in.

Toriel broke out of her wistful memories, gazing at the single bloom held dearly in the massive roots of the tree. The flower that grew after Chara died. The one seed cupped within small, thin, blistered hands as she begged her mother to grow one more flower, just for her.

She remembers what she talked about with Dreemurr.

* * *

"Tori, I-"

"No more nicknames, Dreemurr. I can't." She barked. He looked up from his tea sadly but continued with his point.

"Ah.. I see. I just thought that maybe.. We could move on, is all. J-Just hear me out!"

"I'm listening, Asgore."

"Well... I know that what I did was inexcusable- horrible, dreadful and-" "Yes, I get it." "But there's something that you and me still have in common after all these years."

"Oh? and that is?"

"We are still both victims of circumstance, and we both want to have a new start."

She stopped her tea mid-drink. A sudden weight in already tense-room had grown, just a bit. This was more than enough to give two children time to sneak past the door. Asgore continued.

"It's not... entirely your fault either, Asgore. I.. we were both so much younger. You needed to be there when the kingdom had just lost it's two heirs, and I had left after. We were angry, but I didn't have the patience to try and help you. I didn't notice how much you were hurting and for that, I am sorry."

Asgore looked up at her with a tad of shock but smiled thinly. Toriel forgot that smile, once upon a time.

"I am sorry too, Toriel. I could've done something much better than what we did but... I was just so furious. I felt like I lost everything, but it's now that we've truly lost. The anger in me has all but stayed; but the resolve had stuck with monsterkind."

"It was a lot of things and bad decisions in a desperate time, and nobody was ready to handle it either. But what's the point with speculating about all of this now?" She said rather grimly.

"I want to change. I.. I've missed you all this time Toriel. I missed everything about you. The way you made me feel secure. The feeling of having someone there. I never knew how much I needed you until you were finally... gone." His eyes water and he dries his tears with the extra-large tissues.

"I know you wouldn't feel the same, but I" "No... I've missed you too, Gorey. If anything, I've missed being friends. Talking about anything, laughing and gardening. All of those little moments felt so empty without you there." She cries too.

They talk about a lot of things after that. Everything they've thought about telling each other. Little things, big events. They aren't King and Queen, but Asgore and Toriel.

But they feel... hope.

Asgore had left through the balcony's steps, and she was planning on writing him a letter once they had gotten settled.

* * *

Just when Toriel was about to leave, when three concerned monsters ran up to her holding two, very familiar children in a very familiar situation.

Her breath hitched when she saw the same, faded shade of green with yellow stripes.

* * *

Chara jolted suddenly. A sharp pain panged in her chest in her seat. it's so dark, why is it dark? Oh my god I'm blind again they finally did it I'm gonna die-

She was to the point of hyperventilation until she saw the sleeping figure on the opposite bed beside her. She looks around the room and eyes the bed, not knowing why she was here or how they got there. Was it a dream? No.. it felt too real. The bookshelf filled with different recipes that Chara loved trying to make. The toybox that Asriel was so obsessed with. The drawings. The walls painted in the same shade of red.

This was is her room.

She tastes the buttercups on her tongue and swallows thickly; trying and failing on keeping her composure.

Phantom pains laced her body; every thought of the battles they faced, the fights and injuries she sustained made everything hurt. It was growing hard to breathe and panic struck her- she couldn't let them see her like this. She heaved, wheezing for breath but coming short every time. What was this?! Was she finally dying? Memories of a dusty sweater and the wails of her mother rushed back, and a crushing, teeth grinding force pushed on her chest. Frisk tosses and turns in her bed too.

Quickly, she checked her stats, unsurprised to find Frisk's stats come into view as well. What she didn't expect though, was what she would see.

Chara] [Frisk

HP-0.1/99 HP- 0.1/99

LV- ?] [LV-?

Things didn't change. Their HP was that of someone with 20 LV. Something that could only be achieved with the genocide of every monster not including the king and Flowey. Resetting didn't fix her stats. She's screwed. She can't breathe she can't see she can't hear this is worse than death- She gripped her chest, hearing her barely functional heart beating a mile a minute, cold sweat ran down her forehead and she knew- She wasn't safe anymore.

KILLERKILLERKILLERKILLER

When did she take so much damage, and why did she take HP from Frisk? Well, it didn't matter right now; she needed to heal both of them, if they could heal from this, that is.

MURDERMURDERMURDER  
She vaguely remembered what the River Person told her; the cryptic idea made sense in the moment while she dug out her pockets to try and find the mushrooms. She opened the bag and chewed a small piece, then relaxed as the pain ebbed away.

It took a few minutes for her senses to come back.

Her sight was barely there, showing only faint outlines of her surroundings until they became a bit clearer in the dark bedroom. Hearing gradually coming back for her to be met with the soft sound of Frisk's breathing. Smells were faintly smelling of (normal) dust and butterscotch pie. Touch came back painstakingly slowly until she realized that she was clutching onto the carpet flooring. When she fell on the floor, she didn't know either.

Pain-sensors snapped back into function, along with several pangs and dull aches.

Taste was the last to come back, and she realized the earthy taste of the mushrooms on her tongue; she was alive. She was here. She didn't want to be, but she's alive. She took a deep breath of air into her barely-living lungs, unaware of how much time she had spent on the carpeting.

She grabbed her cane with a shaky hand, stumbling like a fawn until she could stand, leaning heavily on the bookshelf until she got up and back on the bed. The mushrooms… what was in those things? Her chest was still tight and heavy, hands trembling and paler than ever.

She checked her SOUL again. A bright red glow filled the room, making her cover it with the blanket.

[Chara] [Frisk]

HP-20/20 HP- 20/20

[LV- 1] [LV-1]

Man, their stats were fucked. Why was their HP like this anyway? And how did those mushrooms fix it?

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You say that both of these children fell asleep to the point of unconsciousness, made them sleepover without my full consent, and didn't tell me about this other child falling down?" She eyed the two children in their beds, finding a strange compulsion to put the other one where.. Chara used to sleep. It couldn't be. That couldn't be Chara, and yet she looks over to see the same rosy cheeks, green and yellow sweater and short brown pants with leggings. The same exact clothes she was buried with. The clothes she never wanted to let go. All that was left was the eyes. Please be red please be red please be red-

"W-well, in our defense your majesty, w-we d-didn't really know what happened. They just started getting really… s-sick l-looking…"

"And What the heck? I thought Frisk had asked you first if it was okay!" Undyne's brazen voice snapped her out of it.

"Y-yeah! It wasn't our intention your m-majesty! Honest! We j-just had a f-feeling that once Frisk left the underground, she wouldn't have a lot of time for h-hanging o-out.."

"YES! ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT SHE IS GOING TO BE AMBASSADOR!" Papyrus' face soon turned confused, then slightly teary. Alphys looked back to see Papyrus with an equally confused expression. "B-but Papyrus, you're going to be ambassador, not Frisk."

"O-OH. RIGHT. I SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN. I… DO NOT REALLY GET WHY IM GETTING ALL SAD THOUGH…"

Toriel straightened herself and eyed the three critically. "You must still report to me, regardless of what Frisk tells you. You should know by now that they have quite the mischievous streak at times, and lying to have a sleepover isn't so hard to imagine of them.

"Them? But we're just talking about Frisk, aren't we? Do you know Rei too, your majesty?"

"..Rei?" She looked at the child once more. Thin, frail, but with a certain look about her that screamed "CHARA". She could almost see the locket poking under her shirt.

"Ah, I see now. Well, I mustn't hold you guys here much longer! I think you should all go. We have a lot to do underground, now that we're moving to the surface, right?"

"B-but your m-majesty-"

" **Leave** **."**

"AH SURE- Cmon Alphys- BYE YOUR MAJESTY THANKS YOU'RE SO KIND-"

And with that, a fish ran off carrying a frantic lizard and a gangly set of bones upon seeing the universal threat of fire.

Toriel sighed, ebbing the flames to nothing more than a small warmth in the air. She still doubted that she was seeing Chara. Was it really Chara? Her little angel?

She crept closer, careful not to disturb either of the children as they were both shockingly light sleepers. She hoped that both Chara and Frisk alike would grow to feel safe enough to sleep without awaiting interruptions.

Ah, here she was, still believing that by some unknown reason, Chara was here in this very bedroom. But yet… the feeling stood there, like that of a mother that sees her child after so long. She wished, prayed and hoped that Chara was really right there, sleeping soundly in that bed. The last time she had seen Chara like this, sleeping so soundly, it was the last time she would see her again.

Tears rolled down familiar grooves in her fur. A scar had been pulled open. A hole in her heart hoping to be filled again, but still doubting that Chara was alive. She was dead. Toriel had buried her in the garden alongside Asgore.

Wait.

She hasn't checked the garden after her talk with Asgore, now has she?

She gets a glimmer of hope, and dashes past the happy monsters, ruin dwellers and newcomers alike until she reaches the fated garden. Where everything started and ended at the same time.

And there's a hole dug out about the size of a child. Flowers give way and the hole comes from a wooden coffin. Frantic claw marks are etched into the dry soil, and a small glimmer of thought reminds her that she hadn't watered the flowers since yesterday. She sees the bare hint of wood in the bottom of the grave, stripped of it's grey paint and eaten away by bugs.

Her face turns devoid of color, she doesn't even dare to let out a single breath at the thought that 'this must be a dream.' Because this wasn't the first time she dreamt of this very scenario. Where she wished and prayed and hoped with all her might that time could be rewound. Where she wished that both Chara and Asriel could be safe in her arms, just a little bit more.

This is the only time where she hasn't woken up.

Moments pass, but they feel like lifetimes to her. Centuries of hurt, guilt, and repressed emotions flooding back again to her scarred heart.

She laughs at first, in pure, agonizing denial.

A giggle.

A chuckle.

A laugh.

A hiccup.

A sob.

She gazes at the mountain's maw, her wide fanged smile turning into a frown.

Then she cries, rushing back to hug Chara, her baby, her long lost child. She opens the front door by kicking it open, but she opens the bedroom door softly.

To see a pair of red eyes staring back at her with tears.

"M-mom…" Chara stares, shaky and scared. They've been dead. She died and killed Asriel too. Everything was her fault.

Toriel must be angry, she might have been waiting so long to tell them how horrible they are. She doesn't move, like a deer in the headlights.

She's caught.

But then she sees Toriel's expression, filled with tears as the two stare each other down.

A mother who lost both of her children in one night.

A child who said goodbye to everything she's ever loved.

But she forces herself to speak, croaking out two words she always wished to say.

"I'm sorry." The two say in unison. Both of them bristle, as if shocked to hear the words come out from the other.

"I-I messed up real b-bad.. and I killed A-Azzy. I.. I waited so long to say sorry but I... I-" She strains her voice until the last word comes out as a broken croak. Throat so tight that she doubted she could even take another breath. She cries but wipes the tears away.

"Chara.. It isn't your fault."

She hiccups and sobs, covering her face with her sweater. Eyes so blurred with tears that they barely seemed there.

"i-it is! I made him do the stupid plan. I went into the b.. butterc-cups and I wanted to-"

I wanted to kill them all.

I could have saved him once the first arrows hit.

I could have run away.

But I didn't, mom.

I'm sorry for everything.

I wish I was dead.

Don't hate me too.

Toriel can't hold back anymore; she rushed over and hugs her child, squeezes them and peppers her with kisses like it's the last time they'll see each other. For all she knew, it probably was. She hugs Chara tightly in her arms so she'll never let go like before, murmuring apologies and consoling whispers. Chara's eyes are wide and glassy, thin body shaking like a leaf as she does nothing except hold on tightly. The things she had done. The things she had seen, all coming back to her like knives digging into her soul, weighing her down.

She doesn't deserve this!

But a selfish part of her is happy, screaming out for the world to hear at finally being home.

They don't let go for half an hour.

She grips onto the familiar textiles on the robes, the tiny flecks of fur strewn along the stitchwork. The familiar scent of buttercup pollen is sickly sweet, but she only tastes the metallic taste of blood and bile, the awful feeling of blisters everywhere. She holds on, because the last time she let go, she never saw her family again.

Toriel still feels denial; dissociated in a sense from reality as she hugged her long-lost child. Her baby. Her Chara. The same sweater she died in. The same neat and micro-managed bob of hair. The rosy complexion and ruby red eyes to match.

The bony limbs.

The torn smile.

Blisters. So many blisters.

Neither of them want to let go. They stay still, clutching onto eachother like lifelines, still too afraid to let go again. Tears go dry. Shaking turns still. Tension grows into an endless memory of what used to be.

Time wore them all down.

And Frisk lays quietly in her side of the room, smiling the entire time.

She has a family, and it's slowly coming together.

Maybe this time things will work.


End file.
